Bon Voyage
by Tara's folly
Summary: Sisters, Bella,Rose&Alice take a cruise vacation to escape their mundane lives and jobs in Forks.They want a little fun with no strings attached, but get more than they bargained for when they meet Edward,Jasper&Emmett. T for some language&scenes. All hum
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

Ch1 Arrival

**BPOV**

I nervously tugged at the yellow tags on our luggage to make sure they were all still securely fastened.

"You've checked those four times, already. Stop it! You're starting to make me jittery, too. We're on vacation. Can't you relax a little?" Alice's pleading eyes cut through me.

"Sorry." I mumbled and took another step forward as the line moved. The whole process had been nerve racking so far. Rose had almost made us miss our flight to Orlando because she wouldn't leave without her favorite pair of sandals which had mysteriously vanished. I'd had to bribe her with promises of extra time at the straw markets, helping her find a new pair, in order to get her to even leave the house.

Then there was the flight itself. For nearly ten hours I had been sandwiched in between Rosalie in the aisle seat and Alice, whose turn it was to get the window seat. The turbulence was the worst I'd ever experienced. Rose had slept right through it. Alice on the other hand, being the ultimate thrill seeker, had loved every minute of it. She squeeled and laughed each time the plane lurched forward or dropped altitude. My knuckles were white and I was ragged by the time we landed.

Now, here we were, standing in line to check in and get our sea pass boarding cards. We'd been on dozens of cruises over the past few years and knew the routine fairly well.

"Next!" came the call from the available attendant. Alice bounded forward, passport and boarding papers in hand. Rose was still turned around, holding up the line, as she flirted shamelessly with a couple guys a few rows back who were way too young for her. I'd be surprised if they were even seventeen.

"Rose, come on!" I said, getting several dirty looks as I dragged her along by the elbow. She kicked her little suitcases forward, and grudgingly followed me, still in a bad mood.

"I've been looking around at the lines on both sides. There are no hot guys on this cruise and those two pathetic little boys back there are both, like, in love with me or something and will probably follow me around everywhere. Ugh!! This is gonna suck! Why did we decide to do this again? 'Fun ship', my ass!! " She whined.

I turned back and felt a pang of pity for the two teenage boys as they both waved frantically at us. "Come on. That is your own fault. You should've never encouraged them like that. You knew right off the bat that those two were way too young, even by your standards." I scolded.

I wondered if the whole trip was going to be like this. For the first time ever, Alice and I had actually had to outvote Rosalie in the vacation destination. Just because we were triplets didn't mean we were identical in looks or in tastes.

"I still don't see why we couldn't go to California... or Hawaii. Hot men stepping off of their surfboards all around us while we sip on pina coladas, make love on the beach, and eat poi, ..." she sighed and I made a face at the poi comment.

I threw an arm around Rose and hugged her while Alice joined in, trying to help cheer her up. "Come on, Rose. You know there was no way we were going to have enough money to go to Hawaii. Could you imagine THAT long flight?! Besides, don't we always have a great time on these cruises, once we actually get onboard? And "make love on the beach"?!? Gimme a break, Rose. When have you ever made love?!?" It was working. I saw Rose smirk, ever so slightly.

"Shut up." she stuck her tongue out at Alice and laughed.

I handed my papers and I.D. to the disgruntled attendant who was frowning at the amount of talking going on between us. I didn't know why she was in such a bad mood. It wasn't like she would get to end her shift any sooner by pushing us through.

"Hey," Alice quipped. "Remember the last cruise with those Latin men? What were their names? Luis, Roberto, and Marcos... ? They were pretty hot and our salsa dancing has never been better." Rose laughed lightly and shook her head at the memory.

"See. You're smiling! You're having fun already. Let's agree to help each other do whatever it takes to make this the best cruise so far. I think we can do better than Luis, Roberto and Marcos if we try. I've got a good feeling about this ship." I said. "It's much bigger than any other we've ever been on and it's still early. Give them a chance to get here. Everyone knows the hotties don't show up on time."

Rose glared at me. Oops!! Wrong choice of words. "Thanks a lot!! What am I? Chopped liver?!" Rose huffed playfully before grabbing her boarding pass and running toward the photographer who was snapping pictures and welcoming everyone aboard.

"Wait for us!!" Alice yelled as we took off after her down the hall. We crowded into the picture together as we'd done so many times before and made the weirdest faces we possibly could. It had become our dumb little tradition. There were always such an over-abundance of pictures taken that we usually only bought the formal ones, anyway.

"Smile, ladies!" the photographer said. We ignored him and kept our faces squished together and grotesque. "Ok..." he shrugged as he realized this was as good as it was going to get.

Alice was the first to hand over her sea pass card and gain access to the beautiful Carnival Glory. I enthusiastically handed over my card next. _Bing_! The crewman handed me back my card and looked at me like I had two heads as I giggled stupidly over the excitement that that one little sound evoked.

Rose was last to hand over her card. She didn't wait for the crewman to hand it back before she was standing on his side of the computer admiring her own picture that had popped up on his security screen. "Yep...That's a good one!" She said, pleased with herself.

He gulped and shakily handed the sea pass back to her while looking for an excuse to keep her there longer and talk to her. "Just remember to take good care of that. It's the only way off and back on the ship. I wouldn't want a pretty thing like you left behind on one of the islands because you lost it or something..."

He had a big stupid grin on his face, and was in no way attractive. He was in his late thirties and already had a receding hairling and spare tire. I knew Rose well enough to know that he wasn't her type. He could've been the most exciting, brilliant, innovative man on the planet, and without the looks to back it up, she'd never even give him the time of day. I was flabbergasted when instead of recoiling, she leaned in, batted her long eyelashes and asked "You wouldn't really leave me all alone on an island, would you? " I saw him fan himself and pull at his tie as he stammered.

"Yeah, that'd be a real shame, wouldn't it?" I said, dryly as I pulled her away and heard her laugh. "What are you doing? Do you realize you were flirting?! With him?! Have you lost your mind?" I stared at her.

"What? Pffft.. That wasn't flirting. Look- I say if we don't find any cute guys on this ship, we make it our mission to see how many admirers we can gain, instead. So far it's Rose - three. Bella and Alice - zero. What? Don't look at me like that? You were the one who told me I needed to have more fun and make this the best cruise ever. Besides, I won't lead them on too bad or leave them completely crushed or anything."

"It's too early for me to get sea sick. Make her stop!" Alice cried.

"Rose, we've played that game a million times and we know you always win. Can't you just try, for one week, to not break the heart of every man you see? "

She looked at me as if I'd asked her to stop breathing. "Oh, you're no fun. Come on - I'll even limit myself. No men under nineteen or over twenty nine. And no married ones. If we're gonna be stuck on here for seven nights, I need something to do. Of course, if, like you seem to think- this ship will be infested with hotties pretty soon, then there's no need for me to play. ok?"

Rose was the oldest of us, by four minutes. She had always been the most needy and was definitely the one most obsessed about her looks, out of the three of us. She always joked that the gene pool ran out of tall and blond by the time Alice and I popped out. Alice was the youngest and the quirkiest. Everyone who ever met her, immediately loved her. She had wittiness and style galore. It also didn't hurt that she was strikingly pretty in a porcelain doll sort of way. And I...well, I was just Bella.

"Ok." I reluctantly agreed, having nothing to use to counter her argument. The ship was set to disembark in a little over two hours. I prayed the hotties would show up before then.

_A/N: Oh, don't worry. The hotties will definitely show up. hehe. So, here I am writing this new story..and an all human staory at that. Something I didn't think I'd ever do. Don't laugh, but this came to me in a dream last night.. almost word for word what I just wrote. And a lot more. Thewhole story played out and I decided - what the hell.. It was kinda interesting -maybe I'll write it and see how it goes over. P.S. Don't worry I haven't abandoned my other story. I will try to juggle them and alternate._

_I am going to immediately post chapter 2 just because I love you guys and because no good story can truly start without an appearance from our favorite man!! I am hoping this one will be as succesful as my first story. If it is, please let me know. _

_If not -well, let me know that too, so I don't waste my time.. Much love to all of you:)_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Stephenie owns twilight.. yada yada.. I'm gonna just start puting "see previous disclaimer" lol..

Ch2 First Sight

BPOV

The ship was enormous and the layout was somewhat confusing. After finally locating the important things like dance clubs, the casino, and the shops, we hopped on the nearest elevator and decided to see if we could find stateroom 8343, since it would be our home for the next seven nights.

Luckily that hadn't been as difficult. The staterooms at least seemed to be marked clearly and had direct elevators running to those floors, unlike our dining room which required an elevator ride and then getting off and walking up a half flight of steps.

"Well, here we are. Home sweet home!" I said as I opened the door to our room and stepped inside. Our cabin had two double beds and a fairly large window, but hardly any walking space and a pitiful bathroom.

"Typical ocean view stateroom. I always forget how small these rooms actually are until I'm back in one. And don't even get me going about the showers. God help anyone that drops anything in there because if you actually bend over to pick it up, that shower curtain suctions itself to your ass." Rose said and flopped down onto the bed closest to her.

"I know." Alice sang. "I usually just soap up the shower curtain and walls and spin around to clean myself. Oh, look! Our first Carnival Caper!! Let's see what activities we want to choose for tonight."

She grabbed the little bulletins off the other bed and leafed through one of them. "We have a little time before that stupid mandatory muster drill. Don't they know I don't look good in an orange lifevest? Anyway- There's the welcome aboard party on deck 9, by the pool, in about an hour and a half as we disembark. That's always fun and a good way to see who exactly is on the ship. Then we have dinner. Then there's the Glory singers and dancers performing in the Amber Palace theater. Of course, the casino will open after we set sail..."

She was biting her tongue and hadn't mentioned what I knew she wanted to do most of all. "I don't know when the rest of our luggage will be delivered, but since we still have some time before we have to do the safety drill, how about we change into something from our carry-ons and doing a little _shopping_??" I asked.

Alice's smile lit up the room. She grabbed me and hugged me. "Oh, thank you, Bella. I thought you'd never ask. They've got a gucci shop on the Promenade deck, near the casino that I'm dying to look at. I don't know if I'll be able to afford as many things as I'd like, but something small to bring back home would really make my day." She was talking at a half a mile a minute as she peeled her clothes off and fumbled through her carry on for a simple cardigan and jeans.

She tapped her foot impatiently as Rose and I finished changing. Rose grinned as she slowly buttoned her jeans. "So ... Gucci, huh? Ok, I'm in - but only if I can order a tropical drink, first."

"Come on. I'll buy you that pina colada you wanted!" I joked.

EPOV

We were the last three people to board and I already had a headache from listening to Emmett whine. I was starting to seriously regret agreeing with Jasper to come on this cruise. He had somehow conviced us that it would be a great time and we'd meet tons of interesting people. So far, I hadn't seen anyone who looked remotely interesting and I was ready to slug my brother.

"Tell me again why we're here, Jasper? This is your idea of fun? Being trapped on this floating piece of crap for seven nights? I wanted Vegas... You know - Excitement!! Showgirls!! Don't you know who goes on cruises, Jasper?! _OLD people_ - That's who!! I'm gonna go crazy before this week is over." he complained as we strolled to deck five.

"Too late!" I muttered under my breath, getting a death glare from Emmett.

"Hey, Emmett, are you gonna bitch and moan the whole time? Just warn me now, because if you are, I plan on ditching you and scoping out the girls at the pool without you." Jasper said, his face serious. "Come on guys. Just give it a shot! The travel agent said this is a lot of fun and that the Carnival cruise line is one of the best out there because it's always packed with activities and is a fun place to meet other girls our age."

"She must've meant other girls _HER_ age! What was she? Like- a hundred and holy shit?" Emmett asked and I actually found myself wanting to laugh at his joke until I saw Jasper's face.

I stifled the laugh and decided to appeal to Emmett's love of alcohol and sports. It wasn't as strong as his love of beautiful women, but it might shut him up for a little bit. "Why don't we go get some drinks and check out the basketball courts? They're supposed to be incredible on this ship. And who knows - after a few drinks, the girls might start looking a little better, too."

Emmett smiled his stupid looking grin and I didn't know if it was because of the promise of liquor or if he found my joke about the girls funny. Probably the first one.

"Drinks? I had forgotten about that! Yeah - I think I could use one. It couldn't hurt, right?" He pulled out a small map with the ship layout. Well, where are we at, now? Deck five... Promenade. So, where's the nearest place to order up some drinkables?" Emmett asked, already a little less iritable.

"How about that bar right next to the casino entrance? That one close enough for you?" Jasper asked as he pointed down the aisle. Emmett smiled and increased his pace.

A leggy blond sat at the end bar stool sipping the last of some girly drink with an umbrella and pineapple in it. She threw her head back and laughed openly with a smaller dark haired girl who had apparently just whispered something funny to her. They were both good looking and seemed to be the right age. The guys working behind the bar handed both of the girls another drink, each, and smiled at each other, no doubt thinking the same thing.

Emmett stopped dead in his tracks when he saw them. He had a thing for blonds. Jasper and I quickly caught up to him. Jasper had a look of confusion on his face. Apparently he hadn't noticed them yet. "What's the matter, Emmett?? Why did you just stop like that? Do you have to go to the bathroom or someth - ...Oh!!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide as realization sank in.

"Yeah... oh!! " Emmett replied. "Hey, Jasper... do you think I've got any chance in hell with her...?"

"None!...Look at her, though...Wow! I wonder if her hair is naturally that black or if that's a dyed look."

I watched the confusion spread across Emmett's face for a minute until he figured out that he and Jasper weren't talking about the same girl. "No, you idiot. I meant the _blond_."

"What? Oh... yeah, well. She's nice looking too, I guess." he muttered and went back to staring at the dark haired one.

"So, are you just going to stand there and ogle them all day or are you going to go over and say hi and actually get a drink?" I teased.

"We were just going to stand here and ogle them..." Emmett replied.

"Ogling's fine with me.." Jasper agreed.

"Chickens!" I accused them. "Well, if neither of you are going to do it, I'm going to introduce myself to them." I stated. My two idiotic brothers were still frozen in the same spots as I started to walk forward.. Oh well. Their loss.

Before I reached the end of the bar, a brunette darted out from nowhere across my path and collided into me, nearly knocking me over in her frenzy to get to something. "Shit! Sorry.. My fault!" I said in a gentlemanly way, even though she had clearly almost mowed me down. I looked into the most beautiful dark eyes I had ever seen. Her face blushed slightly and her soft lips curled into a breathtaking smile that went on forever.

"No. I'm sorry. That was actually my fault. I didn't see you there.. I mean, I was in too much of a hurry or I _definitely_ would have seen you... you know, not that I mean I would've been _staring_ at you or anything weird like that...ok. I'm just gonna shut up now. Those are my sisters over there, waving at me like lunatics. I gotta go. Sorry again. Thanks for not being an ass about it."

She was incredible. The blush on her face somehow made her even more beautiful. She was easily the best looking of the three. She turned to leave and I realized I was paralyzed, staring like Emmett and Jasper."Wait!" I called as she made to walk away. "Those are my brothers over there, staring at your sisters like weirdos...Maybe we can buy you and your sisters a drink or something?"

"Maybe next time. They just started telling everyone to head back and get their lifevests for the muster drill. The announcement will play over the loudspeakers pretty soon. I'm trying to get a head start."

"Definitely next time, then." I smiled at her as she nodded and said "If we run into each other again ... well...sorry about the pun... you know what I mean...I promise to take you up on it."

She grabbed the hands of the other sisters and they ran past us as she whispered something to them. I saw the little black haired one smile and wave over her shoulder as they passed. Jasper smiled, giggled, and waved back. Then they were gone.

Emmett smacked Jasper on the back of his head and they both walked slowly back over. "Oh, man. I can't believe you talked to her. Please tell me you got us dates." Emmett said.

"Sort of... Next time we see them, we can buy them drinks." I grinned, waiting for them to hail me as their hero.

"Next time? What was wrong with right then?!" Emmett pouted.

"They can't right now. Apparently they were getting ready for the muster drill thing."

"What in the hell is a _mustard drill_?" Emmett asked while Jasper waved his question off and said, expectantly "Just tell me - What are their names?"

My face fell. "Crap! I never asked."

_A/N: Yep.. There they are. My three clueless sweathearts!! Again - this is a trial story.. If it goes over ok, I will continue it. I'm going to switch back and forth between different characters POV's because I find it entertaining to hear what the different people are thinking as the story goes along. I am still doing "Defining moments, Trivial moments, and Literary giants" too. I just needed a break from that one for a few days._

_Anyway - this story is completely different.. Let me know if you like it.. The chapters will get longer and be normal length soon if it continues. Oh- I almost forgot... hugs,kisses,and... hmm... vampire bites Can I still say that since they're not vamps in this one? Ah what the hell - sure I can. It's my story and my catch phrase. I look forward to talking to everyone soon:) _


	3. Staterooms and Suites

Disclaimer: See previous chapter disclaimer! (ha! I told you I was going to do that..)

Ch3 Staterooms and Suites

**BPOV**

"So, he was nice about it, huh?" Rose asked as I filled them in on the conversation they'd missed.

"Really nice." I said in a matter-of-fact way.

"Wow! All three of them were hot! And you said they're brothers? What were the odds? We could've at least walked a little with them on our way back up here, you know. You didn't even ask his name or anything. How am I supposed to find him again?" Alice pouted, her arms across her chest as she took long strides to keep up with me and Rose.

I knew that by "_him_" she meant the blond guy who'd waved back at her. "If it's meant to be then we'll see them again. Walking with them just wasn't practical. Their rooms might be way down on the second floor for all we know. That wouldn't have given us any more walking time than just to the elevators, anyway." I answered. Alice continued to frown, probably thinking the same thing I was. At least that would've been something.

"They're not on the second floor!" Rose said as if it was an absolute truth. She didn't meet my gaze.

"And how can you possibly know that? Unless you picked up on something that I missed?" I asked, thinking back to the brief conversation I'd had with the good looking bronze haired one.

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah. The designer labels. They've got money. They are at least on this floor, if not higher up." Alice stared open mouthed at Rose, surprised she hadn't thought of it first and then grinned and I knew that she was right. The lower decks on the cruise ships were always the least expensive and were small, economy rooms that mostly had no outside view at all. Every now and then Rose's intellect resurfaced, proving that she was more than just a blond bombshell, after all.

"Hey look. The rest of our luggage is here!" Alice said instantly excited again as we reached our room. She picked up her suitcase and stepped over mine and Rose's as she made her way to the bed and began opening it like it was a present.

I helped Rose grab the other suitcases and flung them at the small closet. I didn't have time to go through my clothes now. There would be plenty of time to unpack later. Now, I just wanted to get my lifevest on and find our muster station. I figured the sooner we got this started, the sooner it'd be done and we could really start enjoying the cruise.

"Do that later, Alice! I want to get this over with!" I said snatching the green strapless dress out of her hands and puting it on top of her little pile of clothing on the bed.

"What do you guys think? Does this look better with this shirt pulled down under it, like a layered look, or should I just try to find a different lowcut top to go underneath it?" I couldn't believe it. Rose was actually turning and modeling her lifevest.

I laughed. "I'm sorry, but not even you in all your glory could make that thing look sexy. Just leave it the way it is and help Alice cinch the belt tighter on hers while I get mine on, please. Besides, it's not like you're going to find anyone good looking on this cruise so it doesn't really matter, anyway, remember?" I looked slyly at Rose who was doing her best not to show emotion.

She just shrugged and helped Alice wrap the belt around her waist a second time.

**JPOV**

I tried to find a way to ease onto the subject of the girls, again, but had to be very careful with everything I said. My brothers already thought I wore my heart on my sleeve and expressed emotions too easily and I knew I'd never hear the end of it if they thought I already had a slight crush on her after seeing her for less than thirty seconds.

"Look at this suite!" I called out, innocently, as I walked around admiring the decor. "The private balcony is awesome! I did a good job with these accomodations, if I do say so myself!"

"Yep. Nice big beds!" Emmett snickered playfully as he ran his hands over the matress and then bounced it up and down a little, to check for give.

Edward simply rolled his eyes at that while he flipped on the t.v. and sprawled out across the other king size bed. We hadn't even looked at the adjoining room next door, yet. I assumed it would probably be very similar in layout to this suite. We had kept up our tradition of always having a second spare room ready when we travelled, on the odd chance that one of us might require some privacy on any given night. Emmett's idea. So far he was the only one to ever see any benefit from it.

I still hadn't come up with a good segway, and I was becoming impatient waiting for them to bring it up, so I just blurted out.

"Well, I think we should try to find them, again! After all- you pretty much screwed up our chance, Edward. You offered them drinks and then,_ afterward_, remembered you should've asked for their names. What? All I'm saying is if we rectify the situation before they realize how messed up it is, they could still constitute as the "_fun_" I promised we'd get on the cruise. Besides, if the other two sisters are as nice as the one Edward talked to..."

There!! Let's turn the attention back to the one Edward obviously liked to take any suspicion off of me. I hoped the guys would buy my macho bullshit speech. Honestly, I just wanted another chance to talk to that dark haired angel, without giving Edward and Emmett any ammo to use on me. Once they got started, it was darn near impossible to stop them.

I definitely wanted to see her smile again. She looked so sweet, and yet I could swear I caught a glimpse of underlying mischief in her eyes, during those few brief seconds. I had a hunch that she was the kind of person I could have a connection with.

"The blond is pretty hot." Emmett agreed, making the hourglass shape with his hands. "I wouldn't mind seeing more of her. Ok, I'm in, Jasper! Let's hunt them down!"

Yes!! One down..!!. Now if I could just convince Mr. Sensible...

I was shocked as hell when I didn't have to do much convincing.

"I'm actually interested in this one, myself. Ok, we'll try to find them. Let's buy them the drinks I promised, and see where it goes from there. But you two had better start playing it cool. No more freezing up and staring at them like imbeciles. We also don't need them knowing we were out looking for them. It needs to be a "coincidental meeting"!! That is -_if_ we can even find them again. This ship is pretty big!! " Edward exclaimed.

"Come on, Edward. How hard can it possibly be to find them if we want to?! We're on a ship! It's not like they can go very far. In fact, we'll probably see them at this mustard cutting thing we have to do, anyway.." Emmett said in true Emmett fashion. It was hard to tell when Emmett was joking, but I had a difficult time believing anyone was that dense.

"Just so there's no misunderstanding, are we all in agreement on which girl we want to get to know better, then?" Edward asked while Emmett and I both smiled and nodded.

**APOV**

The announcements for the muster drill had been blaring for the past few minutes, explaining to everyone where they were supposed to go and what to do once they got there. We were all set to go and were somewhat anxious.

"Ok. So, it looks like our group will line up out on deck 3. We just need to look for the signs saying number eight for our group, once we get there."

Suddenly, I had a brilliant idea! Common sense said that if this ship was anything like the others we had been on, the groups for the decks would all be lining up in chronological order by deck. If the guys we ran into were on any of the upper decks, they would most likely be standing in a line not too far from ours. All I needed to do was find a way to scan the other nearby groups.

"Come on. I thought you wanted to get down there right away, Bella!" I said, tugging at her hand to try and make her move faster.

People were pouring out of rooms everywhere, and making their way to the staircases and elevators. It was hard to distinguish between them from the back. Everything was one big sea of orange. What a disgusting color! I tried to get a good look at the faces that passed by. No sign of them!

"Are you looking for _something_ in particular, Alice?" I heard Bella ask and turned to see her and Rose both snickering at me.

I needed to think of something, quick!! "Yes!!! For your information, I'm trying to take note of my surroundings so if I'm drinking heavily later I can remember something to remind me where the room is."

I was so proud of myself and my clever cover up until Rose walked behind me and asked "Oh, really? And do you already have someone in mind that you plan on getting that drunk with?"

Dammit! Well, if she thought I was going to blush as easily as Bella would have at that, she had another thing coming.

"Well,.. there was this tall, very _muscular_, _dark haired_ guy by the bar earlier..." I stressed the 'dark haired' and 'muscular' parts and tried to keep a straigt face, knowing how it would get to her. There! Let her try to pretend she doesn't care _NOW_!

"What!?!? The dark, muscled one?!?! No! I thought you were looking at the _blond _one!" she screeched!

"Ha! I knew it!!" I shouted and waited. The glaring look on Rose's face told me she just realized she'd been played.

"So, I guess I'm not the only one hoping we'll see them again." I smiled as we all instantly quickened our pace and headed to the elevators.

_A/N: Sorry about the chapter being so short. I kinda wanted to cut it there so it doesn't run into the next couple of chapters, which I'm pleased to say are almost done, too. They just need some editing and a little more filler..But since I'm going to spend the day with family, you'll have to be a little patient for those ones._

_Thanks to everyone who gave this new story a chance and reviewed. Everyone has been sending me ideas and suggestions about how & where they should all meet again. I appreciate the creativity, but I actually am going to with my original plan the way it played out in my dream. No offense, but it's just so fun! You'll hopefully like it. And yeah - I'm ready to go back on a cruise now, too. A lot of the info about ship layout & etc. for this story was taken from my own cruise experience, last year. I'm missing it._

_One of my favorite reviewers had asked where the destination is for the cruise. Same place I went to - Eastern Caribbean! Very beautiful..!! But more about that, later._


	4. Peicing it together

Disclaimer: Same as always! Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight related.

Ch4 Peicing it together

**EPOV**

We stood packed like sardines with hundreds of other people who looked about as thrilled as we were to be here. I couldn't believe this was mandatory on all cruises. Our muster drill leader was speaking about what to do in case of an emergency, and was pointing and holding up the little whistle that was attached to his lifevest, but he was so far in front of us that I couldn't hear a word he was saying, despite my usually good hearing. I gave up after a few minutes of straining and decided I'd take my chances and hoped that nothing unfortunate would happen.

Emmett and Jasper weren't even trying to pay attention. They were both craning their necks around, looking frantically in all directions. I picked up on the conversation of a middle aged couple a row in front of us. They were discussing their kids and where their muster station might be. Apparently some of the groups had been split and were assembled out on deck 3 instead of being stuck inside like us.

"Any luck?" I asked Emmett and Jasper, already knowing the answer. They both gave me forlorn looks and shook their heads.

The next fifteen minutes seemed to drag on like an eternity. The heat of everyone standing so close together and wearing bulky life jackets was starting to get to some people. I could feel myself getting irritable right along with them.

"Ok...and... that's it. So you can all take your lifevests off now and put them back in your rooms. You're free to go. Enjoy the cruise! We will be embarking in a little while and having the bon voyage party up by the pool on the Lido deck, which is deck nine.." I heard our leader say. That part was clear as a bell. It was the only thing I got out of the meeting.

"Finally!" Emmett grumbled, pulling his lifevest off over his head. "Let's get this shit off of us and figure out what we want to do for some fun around here."

We had been dismissed ten minutes ago and were only about fifteen feet further along, due to the mass exodus of people all trying to get back down the hall and to their rooms at the same time. I knew the elevators were going to be packed.

"When we have a chance, let's take the stairs back up, otherwise we're going to be waiting forever to get on an elevator. Are you guys up for a little walking?" I asked, hoping they'd see the logic in my plan.

As we reached the staircases, I noticed everyone else must've had the same idea. "Great idea!" Emmett complained. At least we were being herded through a little more quickly, now. I felt bad for anyone who missed their deck and needed to turn around.

We were approaching the seventh deck when Jasper's face suddenly lit up and he shouted "There they are!!" Emmett and I were almost trampled as we slowed our pace to turn and follow the line of sight to where Jasper was pointing. Sure enough, the three sisters were on the staircase that was opposite us. They didn't seem to notice us.

"Hey, Edward. Why don't we just call out their names to get their attention... Oh, that's _right_..."Emmett jeered, giving me the guilt trip, again.

I was about to come back with some witty retort about how that wouldn't really constitute a "_coincedental meeting_" when that suddenly wasn't an issue anymore.

"Hey!!! HEY!! ... _SISTERS_!!" Jasper was yelling loudly, causing everyone around us to mumble and give us dirty looks.

"Real smooth, Jasper!" I complained, covering my face in embarassment, but he wasn't paying attention to me. He kept flapping his arms which, surprisingly caught the eye of the little one he seemed taken with. I saw her excitedly grab the arm of her blond sister and point to us, causing all three girls to smile and wave.

I had to admit that I was a little relieved to see all three of them smiling and apparently just as happy to see us. As we neared the 8th deck, I noticed the girls slowed down and were ready to leave. I realized that must be their floor. There were hundreds of rooms on that deck and I knew we were going to lose them again unless we could come up with a plan.

Jasper annunciated and yelled at the top of his lungs to the black haired girl. "WHAT... ROOM...?!?!"

I was surprised that she could hear him over the deafening roar of everyone talking at once, but she smiled wider and before they were pulled away, she held up her hands. Her left hand was completely open, showing all five fingers and the other had three fingers.. "EIGHT!!!" She yelled, giving one number at a time. She dropped the open hand and was still holding the three fingers up on her right hand. "THREE!!!".

That was all we got before they exited and we kept going up one flight.

**BPOV**

**"I yelled** out our room number to them and did charades, but I don't know if they got all of it. It was kinda loud out there and I think we got cut off at the end." Alice said, undeterred. She actually looked quite pleased with herself for coming up with that idea of how to communicate at the last minute.

"Did you guys notice they kept walking up the staircase when we got off?" Rose asked, driving her point home. "I was right. They are on a higher floor. I'm so good."

"I think they might come here if they got all of the numbers. Eeeek! Look at this room! It's a mess!!." She yelled, grabbing a handful of her clothes off the bed and frantically shoving them into a drawer.

"Oh no you don't!! Top drawer is mine, like always!! You get the bottom drawer since you're the closest to the ground." Rose laughed as she took the clothes back out of the drawer and threw them at the third drawer as fast as Alice could shove them in.

The whole thing reminded me of something I might've seen in the Three Stooges. "I doubt they're just going to show up at our door. Something tells me they have more finesse than that."

"Then why would they ask for the room number, if they didn't plan on meeting us here, hmmm?" Alice prompted, her hands on her hips. She was a pistol. She might be the smallest of us, but once she got going on something, she could be the toughest and most dedicated person I'd ever seen. I knew she wasn't going to drop it that easily.

"I don't know. Look, here's the deal. We can wait here another fifteen minutes to give them time to drop off their stuff and come to our room if that's what they're planning, but if they aren't here by then, let's agree to let it go for now and plan our activity. Deal?"

"Deal!" They both agreed and took turns looking through the peep hole, Alice standing on her tip-toes and barely reaching when it was her turn.

"And one more thing. If by some miracle, we do end up getting together with these guys on this cruise and they're not creeps, - we still don't give out our real addresses if it comes up in conversation. Where's a place you'd actually be proud to say that we're from?" I asked.

We knew the routine well by now. We always made up a fake hometown and stuck to a rehearsed story with anyone we spent our time with on our cruising adventures. It had started out as a fun prank between us sisters, to see who could come up with the most outlandish stories and locations but as time went by, we realized it was actually a good safeguard in case of stalkers or other identity issues that might arise.

"I think it's my turn to pick. How about Texas? The stars at night are big and bright... deep in the heart of Texas.." Alice sang loudly and clapped to the song she knew I hated.

"No way!! Besides, he'll never buy it. He already knows I don't have a southern accent, remember? And anyway, accents are too hard to keep up with. Remember that one cruise when we tried doing the Irish brogue but it ended up sounding more like cockney and everyone thought we were British? No...You got anything else? Maybe some place we actually _know_ something about??" I asked.

Alice rubbed her chin, deep in thought and then finally said "Oooh - I got it!! Remember all the ski lessons we used to take at Alpine Valley Resort? That's in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. How about that? I've got some fond memories of that place."

Rose nodded her head in approval of Alice's choice. That settled it.

"That works. We know enough about it to ad lib a little if we need to. So - Elkhorn it is!"

**EPOV**

"Eighty three!" Jasper said, triumphantly, as if he had discovered the answer to life's most important question. I still couldn't believe he'd make that spctacle of himself on the staircase. I'd never admit it to him, but since we had actually gotten a few more peices of the puzzle over it, I wasn't really that upset.

"I hate to burst your bubble, Romeo, but we're _still_ two numbers short." I reminded him as I looked through the flier with the night's activities. It couldn't hurt to plan ahead and have some options, either way.

"Well, we could...head down there and walk by all the rooms that start with eighty three. They'll have to come out of their room, sometime.." Jasper said, straight faced.

"Yeah! Because that wouldn't look too desperate at all. Have a little dignity, Jasper! Besides, there are too many rooms. People on that floor would wonder if we're stalkers or something if we hang out at the wrong room." I shook my head incredulously at him.

"Well..why don't we just call them?" Emmett asked as if that was the obvious answer.

"Probably because we don't have all of the numbers that we'd need to peice it together." Jasper said, clearly frustrated.

"But, don't you just dial the same number as the room number?" Emmett asked, looking up, now.

Uh oh! Emmett had that crazy look that he always got when he was up to something. I thought I knew where he was going with this line of thinking, but I wanted to hear the rest of it, so I let them talk.

"Yes. But again - if we only have two numbers - " Jasper started to explain.

"I know, but even if we started at eighty-three-oh-one and had to dial all the room numbers up to eighty-three-ninety-nine...It's better than running around like stalkers in front of everyone's door. They'd never know we dialed the other rooms looking for them. And once we get their room and they answer the phone, we just act like we had heard the room number that the little one yelled out. No biggie.."

I was utterly shocked and amazed that Emmett of all people had come up with a halfway decent plan. He must've realized I was staring at him with my mouth open because he got a sour look on his face and snapped at me.

"Oh - Don't look so surprised, Edward!! I'm just as smart as you, but I've got the advantage this time... I've had loads more experience with getting women than you have!" he gloated. I didn't doubt he had more experience with women. We were both overly competitive and so far, that was the only thing he'd ever been able to beat me at, because I didn't necessarily look at it as a contest.

I narrowed my eyes. "Just as smart as me, huh? Well, tell me something, Einstein! Who are you going to ask for when people start answering their phones?" I smirked as I watched his confident smile slowly fade off his face.

_A/N: Hehe... Emmett didn't think that far ahead! Don't worry... They will meet pretty soon... I promise it will be before the end of the first day on the cruise. I'm having a blast writing this story. It's so refreshing. Unfortunately (or fortunately- for those of you who like my other story better) I need to write the chapter for "Defining moments" now because I haven't updated that one in a few days. So it might be a little while (a few days or so) until I update this one next. Any guesses on what will happen when Emmett starts calling all those rooms??? _

_Please be patient. In between writing, I will respond to every review as always. I am going in order, so it might take me a little while, but I haven't forgotten about anyone:)_


	5. The meeting

Disclaimer: I decided that the disclaimer isn't really necessary on this chapter. No, my friends.. Instead I would like to take this time to acquaint all of you with the "Ballad of Edward" I came up with. I'm hoping I can teach it to you so we can all sing it together.. ...Ok - it's pretty easy. Sung to the tune of 'God Bless America' ... here it goes...Join in when you get it..

_"God Bless Edward Cullen. Vampire we love! Lay beside him. And guide him. (ahem)... May he bite on our necks from above! From Forks High School to the Meadow... we will follow...where he goes. God Bless Edward Cullen..The things he knows. God Bless Edward Cullen ... without his clothes." _

Hehehe. I know he isn't a vampire in this story. I still felt the song needed to be sung, anyway. lol..

Ch 5 The meeting

**EmPOV**

"Ok. Here we go. Eighty-three-oh-one. Oh! It's ringing... Hi. Um..technically, you don't know me, but... I'm looking for three hot girls..."

"Pervert!!" came a female voice. Click. I couldn't believe it. Whoever it was just hung up on me. Damn! Edward was giving me one of his all-knowing looks again. He probably thought he had just proven a point or something.

"So?! ... How's it going?" Edward asked and gave me a rather smug look as Jasper smirked.

"Now... Looking back at that situation, Emmett.. Do you _really_ think that was the best way to introduce yourself and ask for the girls?" Jasper sided with Edward. He was starting to piss me off, too. What'd he know about getting girls?

"Hey. If you think you can do better, you're welcome to try." I set the phone down and moved out of the way so Jasper could try his luck. He had a confident smile that I wanted so badly to knock off of his face.

"You've got to be suave, Emmett. It's all in how you present yourself. Watch how it's done."

Jasper? _SUAVE_?! When the hell did that happen? I waited, praying he'd fall flat on his face. I'd never live it down if Jasper was the one to get to the girls first.

"Hello...sir...Well. This is awkward. You're obviously not the three beautiful sisters I'm hoping to get...That came out wrong... I'm not hoping to get them, like that.. what I mean is...What? The name of who I'm trying to reach? Actually, I don't know.. It's these three really pretty girls...I don't know their names... No. I'm not trying to be funny. No!!! You don't have to have me reported...Where am I calling from? Ahhh!" Jasper screamed and slammed the phone down.

"That wasn't them." he said quickly, avoiding eye contact with me and Edward.

I was relieved that Jasper wasn't any better at this than I was. "I know what I did wrong. I'm pretty sure I've got it, now. Let me try again." I lifted the phone off the receiver and dialed the next number while I let out a breath.

No answer. I grabbed a piece of stationary off the desk and wrote down the room number so I could come back to it later if I needed to. I hoped that it wouldn't be necessary.

"Eighty-three-oh-four. I hope I find them soo- Oh, hello. I'm trying to find some new friends of mine who are staying in one of these rooms. Three sisters. We didn't catch their names, but me and my two brothers owe them some drinks..."

The soft female voice on the other end giggled. It was a welcome change from the last few calls.

"Well. Maybe I can help you out. I'm Laura.." She said in a groggy, slurred kind of way that made me believe she must've had more to drink than she should have. "My best friend, Jasmine and I are staying in the room together. We like to drink and party. We're both very cute, very blond, and barely legal. So, what do you look like?..." she purred.

I smiled that famous killer smile that made the ladies fall at my feet and then remembered she couldn't see me. I'd have to make the visual as good as I could over the phone.

"Well, I'm six foot four. Killer smile. Perfectly toned. Dark hair and the most wicked fun you're ever gonna... WHAT?!" I asked because I just noticed that Jasper and Edward had picked up the other line and were squeezed together, listening in. They were both giving me extreme dirty looks.

"You know what!" Jasper spat into the phone. "Two girls! Friends!! - Not sisters! Both blond. Yeah- I see why you got confused...COME ON!! It _isn't_ them!"

"I know that. I just thought maybe if we didn't find the other ones..."

Edward looked furious and got that scary look in his eye that meant he was going to do something stupid and undermine everything. I was completely shocked when he spoke in a high pitched, snivelling tone.

"Laura...We have to let you go, now. I need Eugene's help to assemble all of our star trek action figures and get our comic books in order before we head down for the debate meet, in an hour. Eugene, Hubert, and I will be discussing the ever-growing need and importance of pocket protectors, why Picard was a better captain than Kirk, and who is dressing as what at next year's Comicon. You're more than welcome to join us..."

"Eeew." She groaned and hung up.

"You're such an ass, Edward." I said as I whipped a bottled water at him.

**RPOV**

"I can't believe it. I was certain they'd come." Alice pouted. I hated to see her in a bad mood because it was so unlike her. She was the one I always counted on to cheer me up.

I was sure they would've been here by now, though, too. I hated to admit it, but I was already fed up with looking through the peephole and getting my hopes up every time some tall, dark haired guy would come down the aisle. Of course once they passed the peephole and came into better focus, none of the guys turned out to be the one I was hoping for.

"Well, it's been almost twenty minutes. Maybe you were right when you said they didn't catch all of the numbers you were yelling out, Alice. If that's the case, we will just have to keep working at it. But hey - look on the bright side. We found them again pretty quickly - and without even really trying. If worse comes to worse, we can always hang out at some of the dance clubs on the higher floors to increase our odds, later. But right now, the bon voyage party is getting ready to start and we've never missed that."

I nodded in agreement with Bella. It was their loss! And I waited for no man. Or at least- I waited no more than _twenty minutes_ for any man!! I wanted to do something to get rid of this frustration. I needed a little fun and I knew just what would make me feel better.

"I'm going to put on my shortest skirt and dance with every guy I happen to come in contact with at the bon voyage party. Who knows. Maybe some nice doctor or lawyer will be smitten and want to lavish me." I said, seriously.

"Lavish you or _ravish_ you?" Alice snickered.

"Be quiet, Alice. You're ruining the vision." I said, but I couldn't help smiling at her. Of course they'd want to ravish me. That part was a given. I mean - what man _didn't_?

Bella gasped as I pulled out a gold mini skirt and a thong and threw them on the bed.

"Hey!! That's _my_ skirt! I have been looking for that for almost a month. Do you mean to tell me you've had it packed all this time? I really like that one because it's so nice..." Bella was going on and on about her skirt which looked way better on me anyway. I decided to tell her so.

"Bella. Can I please have this skirt? Pretty please?! It looks great on me. In fact, I think it fits me a little better than you." There. That wasn't mean. Just truthful. She would probably appreciate the honesty.

"What?" she gasped. Overly dramatic. "I don't see how it would fit you at all. You're too tall to wear that. It already hits me at mid thigh and I'm only five foot three."

I was well aware of her height .. or lack thereof. It was why I always loved to borrow her clothes. She just had to be shown before she would believe. I threw on the thong and slid the skirt up, over my hips and buttoned the fly. It hugged my body and fit exactly like I knew it would. I could tell that even Alice was impressed.

"Oh my God, Rose! It _just_ covers your ass." Bella was staring at me like I had two heads. What was wrong with her?

"Yeah, I know. It's great isn't it? I was going to cut it a little, but I decided not to at the last minute. I didn't want any loose or uneven ends, ya know?" Her eyes were bugging out of her head. Her reactions were priceless.

"Well, I have to admit - It looks pretty skimpy on you, Rose!" Alice said nodding her head.

"Thanks, Alice! That's exactly what we're going for. Cute and skimpy. Hey, Bella... I know how to make you look hot, too." I offered and tried to read her expression. If I had to guess, I would say she seemed... intrigued.

I opened Alice's bottom drawer and ruffled through her clothes until I came to what I was looking for. I pulled out a light gray, pleated skirt. I'd seen it on Alice and it was somewhat boring. I had a feeling it'd be much better on Bella.

"Hey!" Alice yelled and angrily stamped her foot as I tossed the skirt to a confused looking Bella.

"Just try not to freak out for a minute, Alice. It's all in fun. I want to see if I'm right. I think the secret is to get a skirt that is at least one size smaller than what you would normally wear if you were being respectable. Now put it on, Bella and let us look at you."

"It's tight!" Bella said as she sucked in a breath and hiked up the skirt, eventually getting it over her hips. I did a double take. She looked almost as good as me. Almost.

Alice made a little 'O' with her mouth and looked back and forth from me to Bella.

"I say you let her have your skirt and I'll give you that one of mine, Bella. It never looked that sexy on me, anyway...Oh! Do me!! Do me, Rose!!" she was bouncing even more than usual.

"That might be a little more difficult, Alice. You need a _smaller_ size and since we don't seem to have any any barbie doll clothes handy..." I wanted to laugh, but Alice was seething and I knew better than to dismiss her because she was small. She was wiry when she was pissed.

"Ok, ok...Calm down...Let's see what we can salvage for you. I rummaged through her drawer again, looking for something that screamed 'Hottie'. I found a pair of low cut pants that said 'Baby Girl' across the butt. They were cute, but just not quite there. I almost considered borrowing those for future use, but remembered they would be too short on me.

My eyes caught the sparkle of a pink, seamless tube top jumbled in with several pairs of jeans. I grabbed it and paired it with a softer floral halter top.

Alice shook her head no. "Um, Rose... These are both _tops_."

I sighed. I couldn't believe she was this clueless. She usually had such an eye for fashion. I was surprised I actually had to explain this to her.

"No, Alice. This _WAS_ a top.. Now ..." I held it up next to the skirt I was wearing, hoping the visual aid would help. "...it's an adjustable length skirt. Trust me..."

I stepped back and waited as Alice pulled the tube top up as a skirt and threw on a push-up bra with the floral halter top.

"I'm sorry I ever doubted you." she whispered in a trance as she kept turning and looking at herself in the mirror. She pulled her hair up into a twist and the look was complete. I was in good company.

"Mission accomplished! Now, let's go knock 'em dead, ladies." I said as I threw each of my sisters a pair of strappy high heels. The phone started ringing as we headed out the door.

"Ah, hell. Probably housekeeping or something.. Just let the machine get it."

**EPOV**

I took over calling the rooms when Emmett got hung up on for the third time. I had found a somewhat legitimate way of telling people that answered that we were looking for new friends of ours. It took a little longer to explain the story, but at least we weren't in danger of being reported as perverts, anymore.

"Well. That's all the rooms starting with eighty three." I said as I hung up with a nice elderly lady from room eighty-three-ninety-nine who wished me luck. There were only six rooms that hadn't answered. At the end of the cycle we tried those numbers again, unsuccesfully. The people in those rooms were smarter than us, I realized. At least they were out doing something.

Jasper sulked and flipped through the Carnival Caper bulletin, without really reading any of it. I decided it was time we made other plans.

"Let's just go do something else. Unfortunately, we just missed sports trivia. Our dining time won't be for another hour and a half. Are either of you hungry yet? We could grab some pizza or head to the buffet in the meantime..."

They both shook their heads. They were starting to depress me again. "Guys, I will not let this get us down. Yeah, those girls were hot. But come on. There are probably tons of hot girls on here. We haven't really had a chance to explore yet. Ok. I'm going to close my eyes and whatever my finger stops on is what we're going to do. Agreed??!"

They both nodded, unenthusiastically. I sighed and opened the bulletin wide, as I closed my eyes and pointed. When I opened my eyes I noticed that our destiny seemed to be the bon voyage party on this very deck.

"Well... good news. We don't have very far to go. It's actually by the pool on this deck. Jasper, didn't you say you wanted to scope out girls in bathing suits, earlier?"

"What's the bad news?" Emmett asked, cutting to the point.

"It's some embarking party and it's probably going to be pretty crowded since I heard a lot of people talking about it when we were at the muster drill."

"Perfect. Let's go." Jasper said, suddenly jumping up and heading to the door.

Less than five minutes later, we arrived on the scene. It was worse than I thought it'd be. People were everywhere and three separate ship activities leaders were clapping and yelling loudly into megaphones, whipping everyone into a frenzy. The deck erupted into cheering as music started blaring on the loudspeakers. I was shocked to find that it was a popular song I recognized. We grabbed beers and tried to find a good vantage point to watch everything.

"_Well, I'm not paralyzed but, I seem to be struck by you. I want to make you move -because you're standing still...If your body matches what your eyes can do.  
You'll probably move right through me on my way to you..."_

Jasper, Emmett, and I snaked our way through the crowd, Emmett dancing the whole time.  
"What? I love this song." he said in his defense when he noticed I was watching him.

Both he and Jasper groaned as the song came to an end and the chicken dance song started blaring next. Senior citizens and children, alike, now decided to run onto the main stretch of the deck and dance to music that they knew.

"_Great_." I moaned.

Jasper made a gagging sound, his hands at his throat. He still looked depressed. That little dark haired girl had made quite an impression on him. Emmett was oblivious to Jasper's disposition and was actually flapping, clapping, and twisting along with the music. I laughed hysterically at him until he went down in the low twist and didn't come back up. He was frozen in mid-squat and I would've worried that he threw his back out if I didn't know he was in tip-top shape and was too young for that.

I waved my hand in front of his face. "Earth to Emmett?? Emmett?!" He was non-responsive. I followed his gaze and accidentally spilled my entire glass of beer as I realized what had gotten to him.

"Oh." I said, not able to come up with anything more intelligent just then. "Oh, _wow_... check that out." The sisters were dancing the chicken dance in a way that almost made it look sexy. Jasper hadn't seen them, yet. He was still sipping his beer and looking in the direction of the pool. He frowned and kicked his feet a little as Emmett straightened his back and slowly stood up. He was ready to tell Jasper the news, but I quickly put my finger to my lips, motioning for Emmett to keep quiet for now.

As the song ended, and the next one came on, I called out to Jasper. "Hey, Jasper.. I think I saw a couple of cute red heads down in the front row, dancing, together. They're pretty good. Not as good as us, though. Why don't we head down and show them how _we_ dance to this song?"

I winked at Emmett who luckily, was smart enough to catch on to my plan and started grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah. Those red heads. I saw them too... They're hot!! Come on Jasper. I think I remember our dance routine for this one." Emmett played his part perfectly.

Jasper shrugged as we dragged him by each arm. I knew he loved dancing our choreography to this song. The song itself was corny, but we'd been dancing to it at weddings and functions for so long that we'd actually come up with our own unique style for it. It was almost dirty, the way we did it, and almost always ended up driving any women in the nearby vicinity, wild. I was hoping tonight would be no different. I only wished we had our cowboy hats and boots to complete the look.

We made our way down and were in the front row facing the main deck. The girls were also in the same row, further down. I kept waiting and was surprised that our cover hadn't been blown. Yet.

Jasper, Emmett and I stood shoulder length apart and grabbed our belt buckles with both hands as we did the grape vine side movement. We rocked our hips a little harder than necessary for the traditional moves, but always kept it pretty tame for the first verse.

_"...You gotta know it. It's electric..Boogie woogie, woogie!  
Now you can't hold it.It's electric..Boogie woogie, woogie!  
But you know it's there,Yeah here there...everywhere..."_

All bets were off by the second round and traditional dance went out the window. We unleashed our choreography that we'd written back in the tenth grade. The girls were suckers for it then and we'd only gotten better at it with time. Over the years, we had improved on some of the more advanced steps and threw in a few lewd movements. Women of all ages, were being thoroughly entertained as they gasped and cleared a wide circle around us. On cue, at the usually tasteful front dip down, we all dropped, hard, to the ground, slapping it before we popped back up.

_"...I've got to move, I'm going on a party ride...I've got to groove, groove, groove, and from this music I just can't hide. Are you comin' with me? Come let me take you on a party ride.  
And I'll teach you, teach you, teach you... I'll teach you the electric slide..."_

The third verse was where it got crazy. On the back drop, we leaned almost into a vulgar backbend with our left hands touching the ground behind us. Our right hands pulled our shirts up off over over heads and flung them onto the floor as we came up off the left hand.

I smiled a wicked grin at Emmett as the whistles and shouts of "Yeah Baby!!" and "Take it off" began. I saw the look of shock on the girls' faces as we pivoted. It had finally resonated with all three of them at the same time. It was deicious, seeing the looks of total surprise on their three beautiful faces. I knew it wouldn't be long now for Jasper.

"So, where are these hot girls you and Emmett said you found?? I'm going to do a little something for them if you point them out to me." Jasper was screaming at the top of his lungs and could easily be heard by everyone in the first couple of rows.

Almost immediately after he asked the question, we turned again and Jasper broke out of stride and came to a screeching halt. Emmett and I knocked into him and started laughing while he swore at us. Even while he swore, he wore the biggest grin I've ever seen.

All three sisters were smiling and looking at us in a way that was very encouraging. The little one that Jasper wanted to meet so badly was a ball of excited energy. She hopped and waved at Jasper, her green eyes, glowing.

He left us and walked over to her. When he stood face to face with her at last, not knowing what to say, she grabbed him in a hug and said "It's _you_...I can't believe I found you. I'm Alice." She was blubbering almost as much as Jasper usually did.

"I'm Jasper. And I've been trying to find you again, all day. My brothers and I even tried calling your room, but we must've gotten the wrong number."

Shit!! So much for "Suave Jasper". I groaned. He was clearly smitten with her, already. It could be very dangerous for all of us if this turned bad. The other sisters were smiling and looking at Alice. I decided introductions were long overdue.

The blond, who I found out a second later was named Rosalie bent down, carefully, and picked up Emmett's shirt from the floor. I've never seen Emmett tongue tied before. Usually women fell all over themselves at the sight of him without his shirt. It was kind of funny to see him getting a taste of his own medicine.

"Emmett." he choked out the single word and looked terrified of her. She smiled, showing her perfect teeth and handed him his shirt back.

The brunette who had run into me laughed as she made the same observation about our siblings that I did. Her laugh was sexy as hell. "I guess that just leaves us. I'm Bella." _Bella._ It fit her. Her name was as beautiful as she was.

"I should've done this the first time. Nice to finally meet you. I'm Edward." I said, placing a small, simple kiss on the hand she extended to me while she blushed. Her skin was soft and smooth.

"So, what do people usually call you? Ed or Eddie...?" Her brown eyes were warm and gave me a strange feeling.I would've let her call me either one if she wanted to. "No.They usually just call me Edward."

She was killing me with that smile. "Well, I guess that suits you. You kinda look like an Edward."

Alice and Jasper had talked non-stop since finding each other, but Bella got everyone's attention when she said "Well. I believe we have some promises to keep. Shall we?"

_A/N: There it is. They finally meet each other for real!!. Hopefully it's making you guys smile as much as it made me smile while I wrote it. And now I've done everyone's POV. That is a little harder to do with some of the characters, but it's interesting so I think I'm going to continue in that fashion. Ok - I've put out 2 chapters in 2 days. Getting back in the swing of it, now. :) (The other one was for my other story.) Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and messages. It fuels me like you wouldn't believe. And just to share an amazing fact with all of you - The stats and alerts on this story are already half what they are for my other,27 chapter story. And this one is only on chapter 5!!! WOW!! I am amazed that you all love it as much (well, almost as much) as I do. Thank you:)_


	6. Allegiances and Alibis

Disclaimer: Does anyone here _really_ think I own Twilight, New Moon, or Eclipse? LOL - No? ok, then.. Let's get back to business!!

Ch 6 Allegiances and Alibis

**BPOV**

The drink of the day was the Mango Tango. Edward ordered a round for everyone, fulfilling his end of the bargain. Of course, all three guys immediately threw away the umbrellas that rested against the side of their complimentary glasses. The cool mango and orange juice mixed nicely with the rum. I couldn't tell what else was in the drink, but it didn't really matter. It was delicious and the perfect concoction for a Caribbean cruise.

Edward explained the pecking order of the brothers as we walked together. Emmett was the largest and the oldest at 24, although you'd never have guessed it by the way he acted. Apparenty he was a big kid at heart, and from the scowl on his face, I could tell he didn't really appreciate Edward's depiction of him. Next was Edward. Like us, he was 23 years old and the middle child. I pegged him as the most responsible one of the three and had a feeling that he was the glue that held them together. All three men were devastatingly handsome, but Edward was easily the most attractive with his auburn hair and gray-green eyes. Jasper was the baby, coming in at 22. He was a year younger than Alice, which hadn't seemed to phase her at all. He had Hollywood classic good looks. His blond locks and piercing blue eyes were quite a striking contrast to Alice's features. I still had a hard time believing they were all unattached. Of course, I didn't know that for sure. I'd just sort of assumed since they were on the trip alone.

"So, Edward,..." I said, trying not to slosh the drink out of my glass while we walked toward the lounge area where a pianist played. The idea was to kill a little time and get to know each other better before dinner. "Do you guys cruise often?"

"Actually, this is our first cruise." He admitted.

"How cute. Cruise _virgins_..." Rose said to Emmett in her sexy, teasing, voice as Alice smiled sweetly at Jasper. Alice had been talking almost nonstop. I noticed how effortless it was between her and Jasper. I heard her launch into the Wisconsin alibi, like we'd planned, when Jasper asked where we were vacationing from.. Good girl.. But she didn't stop there. I shook my head and shot her a fierce warning look as she continued on, fabricating some story for Jasper about how we'd lived in Texas for a couple years, too, but since I'd hated it, we had left. The irony wasn't lost on me.

"So, how about you, ladies? Is this your first time?" Emmett raised his eyebrows and asked, catching Rose's attention as she giggled.

"Not at all. We're pro's so... if you need some guidance, we can definitely give you the ins and outs." Rose winked. She was pulling out the big guns pretty early this time, with the winking and constant crossing and uncrossing of her legs. She must already have plans for him. It made perfect sense. He was exactly what she looked for in a man. Dark hair, perfect build, funny, and just as gorgeous as she was.

I closed my eyes for a moment and listened to the painist play. A few minutes later, he was joined by a violinist and they started a new song. In the rush and excitement of the first day on the ship, most people were still running around getting oriented. I realized that the six of us were the only ones taking time out to sit in the otherwise deserted lounge, listening to the music. They were playing their hearts out, solely for us. The song was low and sad and I'd always been a sucker for angsty songs.

"It's really beautiful, isn't it?" I asked, rhetorically, to no one in particular.

"Not really. It's not slow enough or fast enough. I can't dance to this." Rose remarked as she wrinkled her nose. Alice listened a minute longer and then shook her head. "Yeah, sorry. I'm going to have to agree with Rose on this one. Not exactly top twenty countdown stuff, is it?"

Jasper and Emmett nodded and I could tell they agreed, too. Edward was my last hope. He didn't disappoint me. "The song's actually pretty sweet. Do you know it, Bella?"

"No. Do you?"

"Yes. I like the original version of it, even though I'm not really a big fan of the group. I guess I'm a little surprised we arent hearing steel drums and such. This is the instrumental of a song by Sting called Desert Rose. Doesn't really fit a Caribbean cruise."

"Trust me. Once we get on the islands, you'll get sick of hearing nothing but Bahamian music and steel drums. So this is Desert Rose, huh? Well, it can't be all bad with a name like that, now can it?" Rosalie shrugged and laughed.

"I don't know. It still sounds kinda ... _fruity_ ... to me." Emmett said, frowning.

"That's because you haven't heard the lyrics that usually go with it. It's about a man's deep desire for his woman..and it's pretty hot." To prove his point, Edward tapped along with the rhythym and sang softly when the part he wanted came around. "I close my eyes. This rare perfume is the sweet intoxication of her love. I dream of rain. I dream of gardens in the desert sand. I wake in vain. I dream of love as time runs through my hand..."

He was right. The lyrics were poignant. It didn't hurt that Edward had perfect pitch, too. An image of a beautiful, dark haired, Moroccan, belly dancer, moving gracefully to an intimate dance for her lover played out in my mind as Edward sang. He stopped when he realized Rose, Alice and I were all staring at him, mesmerized by his sultry voice.

I could've let him serenade me for hours, but the mood was quickly ruined when Jasper and Emmett both burst into a hysterical fit of laughter. I frowned when I thought I heard Jasper whisper "_fruity_" under his breath.

"You know, Edward.." Alice ignored Jasper and turned in her seat slightly, so she could look past Jasper to Edward. "...They usually have karaoke sessions that start on the second night. We always go, but we're not all that talented. You, on the other hand, are _incredibly_ good! You should get up there and sing if you aren't shy - I'd totally vote you to win. I'd like to see someone talented get it." She winked playfully at him. I felt a sudden and unexpected pang of jealousy over her display and wasn't sure I liked it. Rose was nodding and pledging her allegiance, to Edward too. What had gotten into my sisters?  
I had no intention of sharing him and couldn't wait to get the girls alone later to reiterate the "exclusive" rule of dating.

Jasper and Emmett caught on and quickly fought to regain their respective ladies attention.  
"We _all_ sing!" Jasper blurted, hoping to win Alice back as he turned her chair around a little to swivel her closer to him. "Yeah!..And I'm better than Edward and Emmett combined

The other brothers raised their eyes at that and smirked, slightly.

"That's right! We love karaoke, don't we guys?" Jasper asked desperately as he caught his brothers' eyes. I could tell he was trying to persuade them to go along with him, but after his little boast, Edward busted him instead.

"No. We've never done it before." Edward stated, truthfully, and Jasper scowled at him for ruining whatever illusion he was about to create.

"Oh.Well, that's too bad. I really get into that part of the cruise..." Rose pouted, feigning disappointment.

Emmett's face sank and he stumbled to make things right again with Rose as quickly as he could. "Umm..To clarify - what Edward _means_ is - we haven't done karaoke before, but I'm sure we could win if we felt like it. We have a tendency to be very competitive. In fact, we are each other's only real rivals and can get pretty agressive when we make up our minds that we want something..." Emmett looked Rose up and down. "I could get up there and win it for you... if you want. "

She smiled devilishly at him as she picked up the orange segment from the edge of her glass and ran it over her lips. That prompted the desired reaction as Emmett's eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly in response.

"Mmmm.. really? You would do that for me?" She asked. I fought the urge to laugh. She was back to her usual antics and knew exactly what she was doing. She already had him wrapped around her finger.

**EPOV**

We talked a while longer with the girls. Jasper and Emmett had bought the following rounds of drinks and none of us really wanted to leave when it came time to get ready for dinner. The girls had mentioned something about the dress code being a little stricter and the wait staff frowning on the miniskirts they were all sporting, so they needed to change.

Jasper and I changed into semi casual dress shirts and slacks. Emmett, however, went more formal in his favorite Castangia suit. The hand made Italian clothing line catered to the wealthy and offered the best in fit, fabrics, and fashions. He only pulled it out when he wanted to impress. He might not be as vocal as Jasper, but I knew what the suit meant.

Although we had the same dining time as the girls, I knew it was too much to hope that they would somehow end up seated at our table. Since the triplets had made it a point to let us know that no matter what else happened, they never missed dinner together, my brothers and I decided not to push our luck. After dinner, we would meet up with them again at their stateroom and go from there. I could hardly wait to see her again, but the hour or so away gave us time to discuss our plan of action.

The maitre d showed us to our table and we took our seats near a large window, with a beautiful view near the aft end of the ship. It wasn't long after that we were joined by our dining group for the next week. The family consisted of a Grandma, Mom, and fourteen year old daughter who smiled shyly at us.

We made pleasantries with them, and were grateful that they seemed somewhat withdrawn and too caught up in their own conversations to fully engage us. It made getting back to the important subject at hand that much easier.

"So, I was talking to Alice and she said she kind of wants to see the _'Welcome Aboard'_ show after dinner, tonight. I wouldn't mind going, myself." Jasper said, not wasting any time and looking at us to see if we were in.

"Hmm. Wait! Is it a broadway style show? Singers, dancers, that sort of thing?" Emmett asked.

Jasper's eyes flashed excitedly and he nodded. I knew he'd just lost Emmett.

"Yeah, I think Rosalie and I are going to pass on that one. I'd have to be quiet and pay attention and act disciplined. So.. - no thanks!" he laughed. "And I wouldn't really be able to talk with her in there, either. Besides, I'd love to get a chance to spend some time alone with her. Maybe I'll see if she wants to swim or hang out on deck or something."

Emmett was looking at me in such a way that I immediately caught his meaning. He needed to redeem himself. That explained the suit. She had turned him into putty back at the main lounge and he wasn't used to anyone affecting him like that. He wanted to see if he could make her lose _her_ cool a little.

"Nothing to worry about. I'm pretty sure she likes you too, Emmett. No one really enjoys sucking on oranges _that_ much." He grinned at the memory and ate faster.

The family sitting with us had just started their main courses when we said our goodbyes. My brothers and I had attacked our food and eaten faster than we usually did, skipping desert for tonight. On the way up to stateroom 8343, Jasper said something that surprised me.

"I really like her, but I think I need to talk to her more. Something just doesn't seem right..." he said, deep in thought.

"Like what?" I asked, slowing my walk to allow time for his explaination.

"Well, at one point, Alice and I were talking, and she said they'd lived in Texas for a couple years.."

"Oh, really? What part?!" Emmett asked in surprise.

"Austin. And she didn't seem to remember too much of it. But that's what doesn't make sense. Unless it was a long time ago or they just never left the house or something. I mean - they're basically our age. We would've seen them at school. Or if they went to a rival school, we would have seen them at games or school district competitions. I don't think we would've forgotten triplets like that."

"Hmm..must be a coincedence. It was probably a long time ago, then. Did you ask what school they went to or when that was?" I prodded. We'd grown up in Austin, Texas, only moving to Bogachiel, Washington about six months ago.

"No. She changed the subject before we could really get into it too much." Jasper frowned. "I say we come up with an alternative to where we're from. And maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea to mention the finances situation, either, until we know what we're dealing with here. I want them to like us for us. Not our money."

I agreed with him on that point and that was where Emmett and I differed. He'd never had any problem playing up to the persona of rich, playboy.

"Well, they're going to figure out we've got money when they see our rooms." Emmett said, immediately.

"So, maybe we don't bring them back to our rooms." Jasper offered as a solution.

"What?! No way!! Why'd we even book the second room? Forget it! I'm out if that's the plan. I'll blow this whole thing wide open..." Emmett's face was serious. I needed to find common ground before things got ugly between them.

"Let's meet in the middle. I've got a feeling these girls are so much more than just some hot booty call, but how far this actually ends up going for each of us will be our own business. So, maybe we just don't go into how much money we have. They don't have to know all of the details. We can downplay it. We're going to need a less well-known hometown, though. If they did grow up in Austin for whatever period of time, it won't take long to recognize the name Cullen from those parts."

"Let's just make up different last names. It's easier." Emmett encouraged.

I groaned. I'd already blown that as an option. In my defense, I hadn't thought this would be an issue. "We can't. I already told Bella my last name before we hatched this whole plan. I didn't know they lived anywhere near Austin. What were the odds?"

We stopped walking, just down the hall from the girls' room to buy time to get our story straight. Emmett scowled, but Jasper was focused and spoke next. "Ok. So, let's just take a chance that they don't remember us any better than they remember details about Austin. Maybe if we don't bring it up anymore and can come up with a good alternate story, they won't put two and two together. So, where are we from and what do we do for a living?"

_A/N: Sorry for making you guys wait a while for it. I had updated the other story first and have also been kinda busy with family a lot lately. I know it's not super long... but maybe I will be able to write a longer one next time. So that's how this one ends.. Alice's lie actually scared the guys into lying about where they're from, too. And BTW- Bogachiel is the name of an actual town that's not too far from Forks, Washington where the triplets live.. Of course, now they've ruined each other finding that out. I like the name of the town.. I briefly mention it in a chapter in my other story, too...hehe .. Hope everyone was satisfied for the time being. Let me know what you think so far. _

_ Wow - It is 3am... WAY past the time when my brain shuts down. I love you all, but right now I need some sleep if I'm going to function in the morning... I mean LATER in the morning.. lol._


	7. First Dates

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things and characters Twilight related. Carnival Corporation owns The Glory. I own "Bed Olympics" and whatever other strange scenarios enter my thoughts and dreams. Read on - it'll make sense.

Ch 7 First Dates

EmPOV

"You know, guys - The more I think about it - We could take the risk and just try telling them the truth, to a certain extent. That we all live in Bogachiel. They're from Wisconsin. Chances are they've never even heard of it. We could leave out the money situation, but in the long run. honesty is usually the best policy." Edward said, in what I'm sure he thought was a somewhat logical and ethical voice. He was becoming so predictable.

"True, but at the same time, if they think we have money and start checking around, it probably wouldn't take long to track us down, there. Then the whole issue with mom leaving the diamond mines to us would come out...They'd either run away screaming over the millions or they'd instantly want to get married.. No. we need something else... there's gotta be something...something ..." Jasper was tapping his head, as if that was going to get him what he needed.

I offered my expertise once again. I wondered when they were going to realize just how lucky they were to have me as their brother? I sighed and explained it to them slowly so they could keep up.

"If you two are done?!" I waited to make sure I had their complete attention. They were both glarting at me, but I ignored that. "It's simple. We're from Olema, California. Lived there all our lives. It's near the Bay area. Has one of the highest grossing incomes in the country. That explains the obvious financial situation. Remember, that one year in high school when I did that report on Olema for geography class? We can just stick to that and we'll be fine. "

"Ok. I'm with you so far. So we live in California and make decent money. And our jobs there would be...?" Jasper asked. I sighed. How did he even fuction?? I swear, sometimes I was astounded by his total lack of creativity.

"Please. Have a little faith, Jasper. Well, for starters, I'm a stripper..." Edward was giving me a pissed off look, already. "Ok, fine...EXOTIC dancer... better, Edward? And I work for an agency called ShockWave that specializes in bachelorette parties, birthdays, sorority functions... Now you- Jasper..."

He interrupted me, rudely.

"What... ShockWave?!!! You even have a name for it?! Wait- Did you just pull that out of your ass or something? How long have you been dying to use that one? I can't believe you want us to tell the girls we are strippers..." Jasper stared at me, exasperated.

"Whoa!! Holdup!! What's this US?? I said I was the exotic dancer. Not you!! No one would believe it from you. You have to have a certain ... sexy persona...to pull off something of that magnitude." That got him. I could practically see the steam coming out of Jasper's ears.

"Hey, I am just as hot as you are. I could totally pull off the whole stripper angle if I wan-"

"No one's a stripper -Got it??!! God! Grow up, both of you!" Edward yelled. It was a good thing we were still down the hall from the girls' room because my brothers could be loud when they got worked up. I was getting annoyed. This was taking too long.

"Well, I don't see you coming up with anything better." I challenged.

"We own a restaurant. Not a famous one or one based off a televised show or anything... Nothing flashy. Just something small we bought with some money we got from our folks. Enough for us to live comfortably."

"A restaurant? How boring. Do I look like the type of guy who sits around all day cooking shit up?" I growled and looked over to Jasper who, of course, was already smiling and siding with Edward again.  
Geez - you make one little crack about a guy's stripping abilities...

I honestly didn't know where Edward came up with this restaurant business stuff, but one thing was certain. I was cancelling the cooking network when we got home - just to be on the safe side.

APOV

Finally! There was the knock at the door that I'd been waiting for. I figured either the guys must be incrdibly slow eaters, or they took forever to change into their evening attire. I hoped they weren't going to make a habit out of keeping us waiting. That was supposed to be the ladies job! The waiting became a bit tedious, so Rose had jumped into the shower while Bella and I had changed back into something a little less comfortable. I figured it was more important to look good than to be comfortable, any day.

"Hang on. I'm coming!" I yelled even though I was already standing by the door where I'd been impatiently waiting for the last ten minutes. Bella smiled at me, approvingly. She had been trying to stress the importance of playing it cool and not looking so eager! Another five seconds or so, for good measure ought to do it. No need to hurry. Rose wasn't even out of the shower yet. I could still hear her off-key bellowing of the Alicia Keys song that I used to like before she had butchered it. She was in mid-song. Lucky us! I looked around to make sure the mirror and water glasses weren't shattering and smiled at my private joke.

Bella's eyes had been on the front door ever since the knock. I noticed her jumpy expression ease up a little bit too, as the singing from the shower reached a crescendo and distracted her, momentarily. She smiled, shook her head, and stared at the bathroom, no doubt thinking the same thing as me.

"Someone should just put that poor animal out of it's misery, already. You know the funny part? She has a nice enough range, but she just can't carry a tune to save her life." She said, laughing. "Of course - If you tell Rose I said that, I'll have to kill you."

I counted to five, opened the door, and got instant smiles from all three brothers. They really were something to behold. They took up all the available space and then some, in front of our stateroom entrance. I was immediately drawn to Jasper's face. His blue eyes were the most beautiful shade I'd ever seen. His smile melted my heart and I knew I shared an undeniable chemistry with him.

"Hi." I said, leaning in the walkway, still holding onto the door handle. I was glad for once that my sisters and I had such different tastes in music and theater styles. Pretty soon we would each go our own ways with our respective dates and I would have Jasper all to myself.

"Hi, yourself, beautiful." Jasper said, causing my heart to race and my body to tremble, slightly.

"Well, thanks, dear but...oh!!! You weren't talking to me, were you, Jasper??" Emmett said in a falsetto voice that in no way sounded like a woman's voice. He chuckled, as he batted his eyelashes and shuffled his feet.

I could tell Emmett prided himself on excellently delivered humor and I had a feeling he was a huge party animal. The life of the party so to speak. I could see why Rose liked him. I went more for the sweet, shy, type, myself. I liked the challenge of corrupting them to my unique brand of mischief. "So... Can we come in or do you want to just flirt from the doorway some more?"

"Oh!!! Gosh! Where are my manners? Come on in, guys!" Dammit! I sounded like our mom.

Jasper entered first, followed by Emmett and then Edward. The room had been cramped before, with just the three of us, but now it was ridiculously tight. We all stood a few feet apart and I had no idea how we were going to move around in the miniscule area. The guys didn't seem to mind, but I was thankful that there weren't more of us, because I doubted if we could've squeezed even one more person in with a crowbar.

"Bella... Wow! You look great!!... Uhhhh..What in the world is that?!" Edward asked, looking around for the source of the strangling noise.

"That's Rose. She sings in the shower, sometimes. Well..Sort of..." Bella sighed, making no excuses for our tone-deaf sister.

"Voice of an angel." Emmett said. At first I thought he must be joking, but one look at his face told me he was dead-serious. We all looked away until the moment of awkward silence was broken again by Emmett.

"Oh, Hey, Bella.. Ya know what's fun?" Emmett said, changing the subject. He squeezed past us and jumped hard onto the opposite end of the bed that she had been sitting on, causing a teeter-totter reaction that sent Bella flying off of the bed and face-first into a surprised, but not altogether unhappy, Edward.

"Good job! That's a good catch there, Edward." Emmett said, ignoring the icy looks he was getting from his brothers. "Come on over here, Alice. Bella is in the lead for now, with about two feet or so, but I think you can beat her long-jump record."

I shook my head no and looked into Jasper's face for help.

"Actually, Alice and I had better get a move on or we'll be late to the show." He said, coming to my rescue like some beautiful blond knight in shining armor.

"Aww... Doesn't ayone want to play bed olympics?" Emmett put out his lip and gave his best fake pout. That was when the bathroom door swung open, forcefully and hit the back of the opposite wall.

Rose stepped into the room and stood there, dripping wet in a towel that barely covered her. As usual she was confident enough in her looks that she had no reason for false modesty.

"Emmett..." she said in a breathless way, ignoring the fact that the rest of us were also in the room. She seeemed awestruck by him. I knew I wouldn't have to apologize for inviting the guys in and springing this on her while she was in the shower. She liked these kind of surprises. I was just grateful that she had the towel on, otherwise it might have been a little awkward. Well, awkward for everyone except Emmett and Rose. They didn't seem to mind at all.

"That's some suit... Is it Italian?!" She asked, looking him up and down like he was a piece of meat.

He nodded and gave her a big, flirty smile, showing off his dimples and sexy jaw line. He somehow became even better looking when he did that. For a minute, I noticed the slight resemblance to Jasper.

Emmett unbuttoned the two small buttons of the dark jacket, revealing a navy blue shirt underneath and a purple and black,paisley pattern tie that was the perfect accesory. Rose was hardly breathing and had to adjust her hold on her towel as her grip slackened a little. Emmett turned slowly and modeled the outfit for her before asking "So, you like my choice in clothing for tonight?"

"Yes, I like it. I like it a lot!" She was clearly infatuated or she would've come back with a witty retort that turned the focus back onto her. Granted, Emmett was better looking than all the other men Rose had ever dated, but his impact on her still surprised me a little. It was like she'd never seen a man before.

"I like yours, too." he added, slyly as Rose began twirling her long blond locks around her finger, accepting the compliment... of sorts. I thought I saw Edward roll his eyes at them.

"Bella, do you and your sisters have anything going on at Nassau, tomorrow? Any excursions or plans?" Edward asked, turning his full attention to her.

We had been to Nassau so many times that we usually didn't even get off the ship on that island. We'd done it all a million times.

"No. Why?! Was there something you guys were curious about?" She asked innocently, as all three brothers mouths dropped. Their minds had gone stright for the gutter, but they recovered quickly enough..

"We havent booked anything yet. Since you seem to be the cruise experts, I was wondering if you could maybe give us some pointers on what's fun. We would be pretty open to anything..."

I looked at Bella and smiled, instantly giddy. He was giving her an open invitation. They wanted to spend the next day with us.

"Well, let's see.. If you haven't been to the Atlantis resort and casino before, that's a beautiful place to check out. There's a guided tour that takes you around so you can see the aquariums. Or if you are more adventurous, parasailing or kayaking in the ocean is amazing. Then there are the more laid back things like.."

I slapped my forehead and stared at her, incredulously. I knew she wasn't really that blind or oblivious. She just wanted him to ask her. She was tricking him into coming outright and saying that he wanted to spend more than just tonight with her.

"Umm.. that's great, Bella.." Edward said, cutting her off before she listed every available excursion. "..but I guess I should've clarified that. I was actually wondering if you would like to accompany us tomorrow and maybe show us the finer points... you know - of the island..."

The last part was a deliberate afterthought. Again with the innuendos. He was good. Clever. A perfect match for Bella. I liked him already and from the enormous grin on her face, I could tell she did too.

Jasper looked down at his watch and his eyes darted to the door once again before anxiously looking at me. I could tell he was ready to go. I hoped it was because he wanted to have time with me away from everyone else, and not that he was so worried about missing the first few minutes of the show.

"Hey! Great idea, Edward. Ooh! - I know! Why don't you and Bella talk about it and come up with a plan for us for tomorrow. You're always good at that sort of thing." Jasper said, in a rushed tone.

Emmett nodded, agreeing with Jasper. "Yeah, that's fine with me too. Just fill us in later with whatever you two decide, because it doesn't really matter to me. I'll have fun, no matter what..." he winked at Rose, and then remembered something.. "umm.. that is unless you want to be involved in the decision making process, too, Rose?" he backtracked, politely, as she scoffed at him and waved the idea off.

"No thanks! I'm not ready to think about planning anything right now. Just want to go with the flow, ya know what I mean? Let whatever happens, happen" She locked eyes with him and spoke in a cool, carefree, voice as she sauntered slowly past him on her way to her clothing drawer. Emmett still sat at the edge of the bed and I noticed one of Rosalie's long, bare legs come in subtle contact with the back of his hand as it hung relaxed at his side. The motion was meant to tease and turn him on, but by the look in Rose's eyes, I knew her plan had backfired and she was having a hard time keeping her emotions in check. She had finally met her equal.

"Well, it's been fun. Bella, Rose. Nice seing both of you, again..But now, my lady and I have a show to catch, so if you all don't mind..." he opened the door for me and waited confidently as I slowly brushed past him, breathing in his enticing aroma on my way out.

I was still smiling at the whole 'my lady' reference. If anyone else had said that after only knowing me for one day, I might have laughed or walked away, but it sounded right coming from Jasper for some reason.

JPOV

"Thanks for coming with me to this. Bella and Rose are usually bored to death with broadway productions so I end up either going alone or skipping the shows a lot on our cruises." Alice whispered to me as we made our way down to a front row and sat in a cozy, love seat for two.

The good seats in the middle of the theatre were already taken up, but I didn't care. It was all about the company I was keeping. And that couldn't have been better. Everything about Alice intrigued me. The way she walked, so gracefully, like a balet dancer. The way she spoke and laughed freely. The way her eyes lit up when she smiled at me. That was the best part. I wanted to keep her smiling. I wanted to get lost in those eyes.

"Edward and Emmett tease the crap out of me for liking this stuff so much. I've got just about every Andrew Lloyd Webber soundtrack at home. Movies, too. In complete honesty, though, I am having such a great time just being with you, that even if we had missed the show, I wouldn't have minded."

"That's so sweet." Alice said leaning closer to me and placing her tiny hand in mine. Her encouragement made me brave. She had initiated the first move and was giving me the proverbial green light, so I reached over and touched her cheek with the back of my hand. Her skin was incredibly smooth and soft.

I sensed her breath catch in her throat and she bit her lower lip, nervously. She didn't seem to be aware she had done it, but it was a powerful effect.

Beautiful! Her eyes, her wet lips. She was smoldering! I decided I couldn't wait any longer to kiss her. My heart pounded in my chest as I leaned even closer. When I came within an inch or so from her, she abruptly jumped up, unexpectedly.

"Jasper. Oh! I need to get something really quick before the show starts.Trust me! I'll be right back, ok?" She was looking at me, waiting for an answer as I tried to figure out what the hell had just happened.

"Do you want me to go with you?" I asked, still confused.

"No. It's a surprise. I will be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, you just stay here looking cute, and I promise to hurry." she blew me a quick kiss. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but she was smiling. I figured she must not have known that I was going to kiss her. Either that or she was afraid. It had to be one of those. I didn't want to consider that maybe she wasn't as into me as I was with her.

So, worst case scenario - she was afraid. Maybe I was taking it too fast. Well, I could work with that. I would be as non- threatening as possible when she came back. I'd let her move at however slow a pace as she needed. As much as I wanted to kiss her, touch her, I could be patient. For her, I'd wait.

I watched her leave the theatre and a minute or so later, the lights went out. The show was starting. The cruise director was giving some speech and welcoming everyone. Singers and dancers filed out onto stage for the first act. 'Cats'! I liked 'Cats', although it was slightly overrated, in my opinion! But where was Alice? I hoped she'd be able to find her way back down to our row in the dark. I kept my neck craned in the direction of the door she had exited from.

Five minutes later, I was still watching for her. The show was loud and full of energy and I was getting a little nervous. I would've left to look for her if I'd had an inkling of where she might have gone. I couldn't enjoy the show. I decided I would wait outside the theatre doors, where there was more light so I could see her as soon as she came back.

As soon as I stood to make my way down, I felt someone throw flop down next to me in the loveseat. I spun around and stared open-mouthed at Alice.

"How did you?- I was watching the door...-" I stammered and pointed to the door I'd been staring at. She giggled and I started to feel the heat rise to my face.

"Sorry I missed the first few minutes. Umm...You know there's another door right over there, right?" She asked, pointing in the opposite direction.

No. No, I hadn't known that. "Oh." I said idiotically.

"So, about that surprise..." She pulled a paper plate out from behind her back. It was piled high with peices of pizza.

"I brought us a snack for the show. Pizza with ham and pineapples." She smiled and offered me the plate. I couldn't believe it!

"How did you know this was my favorite type of pizza?" I asked full of wonder and appreciation.

"Oh, did I forget to mention I'm psychic??" I couldn't tell in the dark, but I was pretty sure she had a big grin on her face.

"Yeah. You must've forgotten to mention it."

"Oh, well it's probably because I'm not really. It's just a good thing that you happen to like hawaiian pizza toppings because this was all they had ready when I went up there. And the line was incredibly long! Apparently a lot of people had the same idea!! I didn't want to wait another ten minutes for the other pizzas to be done, so I just grabbed these and rushed back. So, What did I miss?" she asked, leaning against me in an inviting way and holding the communal plate of pizza in front of us.

I tried to calm my nerves and the flooding of hormones at having her up against me again. I fought the sudden urge to pick up right where I'd left off. "You didn't miss that much. It just started. In fact I think 'Cats' was the only act you didn't see."

"Ok. No big deal, then. That one's not my favorite. Give me 'Phantom of the Opera', any day." I smiled along with her. She was too perfect for me.

EPOV

I was already in a better mood. I was pleasantly surprised when Bella informed me that an art auction was getting ready to start on one of the lower decks. I had immediately asked her if she wanted to go, sensing her excitement. Apparently that was another thing we had in common. I collected a variety of classic and ecclectic works of art, but tonight wasn't about the artwork, per se. I couldn't wait to plan out tomorrow's activities with her. If I played my cards right, and my brothers somehow managed not to screw it up with her sisters, we might be able to spend the entire trip with the girls.

Bella smiled and looked at me like she knew what I was thinking, then she lowered her eyes as we walked together. I didn't worry too much about Jasper. I just hoped Emmett was behaving himself.

Even though we had arrived early and were the first ones there, it was easy to tell where we were supposed to be seated. We made our way over to the rows of chairs set up facing numerous paintings by various artists. We sat in the first row to have the best view possible.

Some paintings were quite beautiful, while others were cheap pieces of crap. Bella seemed to have an eye for fine art and could easily distinguish between the two. Her eyes were immediately drawn to one painting in particular that sat a little further back on a pedestal. Her mouth opened slightly as she gasped. She had good taste.

I recognized the signature oceanic design of the Wyland picture, but wasn't familiar with this particular painting, itself. It was enormous at a little over four feet long and was meant to take center stage on the whatever wall it was hung on. This was obviously one of his newer creations. Wyland was one of my all time favorite artists and as a tribute, several of his sculptures and paintings adorned our foyer back at home.

"Isn't that one gorgeous?!" Bella pointed, her eyes still lingering over the black and white whales swimming gracefully in the Pacific.

"Quite gorgeous." I agreed, not looking at the painting.

When Bella caught my gaze, her face blushed a bright shade of pink, and she shyly turned away. The innocence and beauty of her rocked me to my core.

The seats filled up quickly until there was standing room only. The auctioneer finally got underway once it was apparent that no one else was going to be able to squeeze in.

The auction went smoothly, for the most part, with nearly every piece bringing in at least double it's estimated value. I noticed Bella's confused look when the auction drew to a close and the Wyland picture still hadn't been brought out.

"Excuse me." She said bleakly, touching the auctioneer's arm. "What about that piece?" She asked, gesturing.

"You mean Wyland's 'Orca's Starry Night'? Breathtaking, isn't it? That one's set for silent auction. The registration form is sitting right over there by it. If you're interested, feel free to make a bid by simply listing your amount and your stateroom card number on the form. Whoever has the highest bid on the last day of the cruise will be notified and will get the painting. We will provide the shipping." he explained.

Bella walked over to the painting and sighed as she looked down at the registration form. The market value was listed as three thousand dollars. It was a fair price and fell in line with what I usually paid for a typical Wyland piece. The opening bid had started at eighteen hundred dollars and already there were a few names on the form. The current bid was twenty two hundred dollars.

"It's beautiful and well worth it. I just don't have that kind of money to throw around. Oh well, maybe someday. It doesn't hurt to dream, right?" She laughed a little, but I could feel the disappointment coming off of her as she took one last look at the painting and turned to leave.

"So, where do you think we should do it?" My eyebrows arched, and I was caught off guard by the question. "You know - plan out our itinerary?" She scoped out the different areas and my mind spun out of control when she reached down and took my hand in hers.

Right! The itinerary. Get a grip, Edward! I swept the room and stopped when I found a cute ice cream and coffee shop. "How about over there? That looks like a nice place to talk and get some dessert."

"I swear you can read my mind or something. They have an ice cream sundae there called "Everything but the kitchen sink"!! It has a lot of scoops of ice creams and basically every topping you can think of. It's to die for. Me, Alice and Rose usually share one and we can't eat all of it. Come on. You and your brothers bought all those drinks for us, earlier. Let me get this for us! My treat!"

She was as sweet as she was beautiful. There was a rare honesty in her that I didn't usually find in people. It was then that I knew what I wanted to do.

"Sounds great! Go ahead and pick somewhere for us to sit. I will be right over."

"Where are you going?" she eyed me suspiciously.

"Nowhere. I just want to grab some excursion brochures from the desk over there. I saw some that looked pretty informative and came with nice pictures of the different islands. It'll help make the decision easier if I have an idea of what everything looks like."

"Ok. See you in a minute." She smiled at my half truth and brought my hand to her lips and placed a small kiss there before dropping it and walking toward the coffee shop. I watched the gentle sway of her hips as she got further and further away. Once she was out of sight, I scrambled in order to make sure I'd have time to do what I wanted and still be able to grab some brochures on my way back.

_A/N: A nice long chapter for everyone! Thanks for waiting patiently for it. I tried to cover a lot in this chapter because readers kept sending me questions. I hope that answered some of the questions about the guy's cover story and where their money comes from. Some of the other questions that you guys asked were very direct and I can't answer them yet without giving away the story plot. And as long as this chapter is - it still needed to be split up because as you can see - I haven't even gotten to Emmett and Rose's date yet. The next chapter will be about them and will also wrap up the other dates._

_As always, I like to put a bit of myself into my stories. I feel like it connects me to the readers a little more. So, having said that, I guess I should explain.. First off - yes, I love Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals. Not so much 'Cats' , but Phantom of the Opera - Yes! And - I'm not too big into art auctions, but I love Wyland paintings and sculptures. I have wanted 'Orca's starry night' for a long time and still can't afford it. (And even if I could - it is sold out. You can look it up online. It's amazing.) _

_Well, that's pretty much it for now. My family and I play a game called 'Death is not an option' and it will come into play in the next chapter a bit, I think. That's when you'll really find out how twisted my little mind is. hehe... Thanks for all the love you guys gave me last week. It helped a lot!!! I will write more for this one, once I get out the next chapter for "Defining Moments"...If you're enjoying my story, please let me know. Until then - Hugs,kisses, and vampire bites to all of you!!_


	8. First Dates Part two

Disclaimer: Any reference to persons living or not living is... completely ridiculous. This is a work of fiction, based loosley off Stephenie Meyer's wonderful characters.

I know this was a long time in the making. Some of you actually sent me messages that said you thought I had abandoned my story, leaving you all in the lurch. Sorry to give such an awful impression... But you should have known better.

I love writing this story and if I wasn't so worried about the constant job hunting and trying to balance out family time, these chapters would fly out of here, but, alas, the outside world interferes a lot more than I like, sometimes.

Just know that I am always here, continuing and I won't stop until this story is complete. I can't promise how quickly I will be able to post new chapters, just know that they are still coming.

First Dates - Part two

**RPOV**

"Well..._Finally!!_ I thought they'd never leave..." I playfully teased Emmett with a seductive voice that usually reduced men to mere blubbering idiots. He was proving to be a little more resilient. How fun. A challenge...

He sat up a little straighter and smirked as I hungrily looked him up and down. He was easily the hottest man I had ever seen and I could tell that he knew his way around women. He had an air about him that might have intimidated some ladies, but not me. I preferred an experienced man. He was the kind of guy I could get lost in. He represented complete freedom and intoxication.

I bit my fingernail, a bad habit, and briefly wondered what it would be like to be with him. To be held by those steady arms, touched by those strong hands, kissed by those lush, full lips.  
Emmett smiled devilishly at me as if he knew where my mind might've just been.

"I'm just going to..." I pointed, motioning toward the bathroom as I held up the dress and matching bra and panties in my hand. I made no attempt to hide my sexy see-through underwear. I figured it evened the playing field a little bit. No need for me to be the only one getting worked up over here.

It took me all of five minutes to throw the dress on, brush through my long hair, and make my dramatic entrance from the bathroom for the second time in one night. I was rewarded with immediate gratification.

"Well, well..." he let out a whistle of appreciation. "Damn! What's red and white and fun all over?" He laughed softly as he admired my very tight, red and white polka dot dress.

"You like this plain dress?" I asked, running my hands smoothly up and down the sides of the dress, accentuating my curves. I was very aware all the while that I was teasing him. The plainness of the dress was intentional. What it lacked in design, it more than made up for in fit.

"Amazing! I've got a feeling you could come out in nothing but a lifejacket and you'd still look hot." His tone was playful, but his eyes smoldered.

"Nope. I actually tried that, once. Apparently even I can't make a lifejacket look good." I shrugged, downplaying his compliment as Emmett stood and walked closer to me.

My heartbeat quickened as he came within inches from me and I fought an overwhelming urge to reach out and touch him when he became close enough.

"You _tried_ that?! I wish I'd been able to see it." He said as he brushed his hand against my cheek. The caress was so soft, so subtle... and yet the underlying tension was almost enough to drive me insane.

What is he doing? What is it about him that is so damn...Hot? Is it the way his body moves inside his clothes? The thick column of his throat. His dimples? The cleft chin? Maybe. The eyes, of course, the dark lush hair... The fact that he seems more physical than anyone I've ever known. More ...male. Probably a combination of all those things.

"Emmett?..." I said, softly, loving the way his name rolled off my tongue.

"Hmm.." he answered, raising an eyebrow slightly, yet still admiring my cheekbones or lips or something. His hand freely touched my face, again, brushing a stray strand of hair away from my eye. I held my breath. I was losing concentration with each touch.

"I was.." gulp! "...wondering what you were up for tonight."

That devilish look was back! Uh oh. Wrong choice of words, apparently. There were too many possibilities inherent in the question. I hadn't necessarily meant to proposition him, but judging from the look on Emmett's face, I might as well have just asked 'So, how'd you like to sleep with me?'

"Up for?" he repeated, his eyes holding a certain sureness. "I am up for whatever you'd like."

There was no question of the meaning behind his words. His mannerisms and tone of voice let me know without a doubt. He wanted me, too. The attraction was very mutual and yet, by not coming outright and saying anything definite, he had left me with an out if I chose to use it.

It was all moving too quickly and yet, since meeting Emmett, I had wondered non-stop about this moment. Now it was here. Everything would either happen or not happen within the next few minutes. It was up to me to decide what I wanted...

I didn't need to think very long.

I pulled him down to meet my mouth and kissed him, savoring the way his lips crushed mine. The newness of him, of the undeniable chemistry we had together, was exhilerating.

I knew everything I needed to know from that first perfect kiss. He would be an incredible lover. Sexy, enchanting, generous. My hands instinctively removed his jacket, throwing it gracefully to the floor. I fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, anxious to be free of the cumbersome barrier.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" He said, causing my heart to soar as he looked deeply into my eyes. His kisses became more demanding, matching my own. My brain fought hard to regain control. I'd had scores of men tell me I was beautiful. Coming from him, it actually meant something.

"Emmett, what are we doing here? I don't know if this is right or wrong..." I said, in between kisses, during a moment of indecision.

There would be no going back. I'd never cared about impressions before, but this was different, somehow. What if I ruined things with him before I even had a chance to really get to know him? Was it worth the risk?

"I don't know either. It doesn't make sense to feel like this after one day. At the most we will only have one blissful week together,... but yet everything in me tells me this is right..."

The phrase _'Patience is a virtue'_ ran briefly through my mind. _'Shut up!_' I told myself. My logical side was trying to resurface and was becoming quite a nuisance. I decided to squash it once and for all. Hadn't I been the one who said I wanted to 'go with the flow'?!

I collapsed onto my bed, bringing Emmett with me, allowing passion to take complete control as the last of my clothes came off.

**EmPOV**

I let her catch her breath as I held her in my arms. She was so unlike other women I had been with. She was beautiful beyond belief, yet her physical beauty was just the beginning of it. There was something more... What was it about her? I wasn't in a hurry to leave after being with her and the situation hadn't turned awkward. She was warm, soft, and still smelled vaguely of vanilla and cotton candy. The smell of her skin alone, almost put me back in the mood.

She had been amazing. The sudden thought that she must have had a lot of practice disturbed me and I didn't quite know why. Hadn't I had a lot of experience, myself? It was unrealistic and unfair to have thought she might still be a virgin.

"How can you bear it?" she said at once, catching me off guard.

"Bear what?"

"This... For so short a time..."

Her sweet, beautiful, smiling face was suddenly serious. I knew she was challenging me, in a way. She raised her eyebrows, and smiled. Finally, I recognized the quote. It was taken from a book that, coincidentally, we found that we had both read. We had joked earlier in the day that we must be the only two idiots to have read the book 'Possession' by A.S. Byatt all the way through and deciphered enough of the difficult wording to actually find it intriguing.

I tried to remember how the next part went. When it came to me, I followed suit, quoting the next line from the book.

"We can be quiet together and pretend - since it is only the beginning - that we have all the time in the world."

She smiled and continued and I didn't know where the monologuing started and where the real emotion took over.

"But every day we'll have less and less.. and then none."

"Would you rather, therefore, we had nothing at all?" I asked.

"No. This is where I have always been coming to..." Her voice quivered and she stopped short of ending the sentence. Maybe she didn't remember the rest. She had fit the role so perfectly. I almost believed her.

I spoke the last remaining dialogue, surprised at how easy it was to say the words to her. "I think I'm in love with you. When I go away from here, this will be the mid-point, to which everything ran, before, and from which everything will run. But now, my love, we are here and those other times are running elsewhere."

Was it a strange coincedence that she chose those particular lines? I realized, surprisingly and somewhat eerily, that it hit a little close to home. I really liked being with her - more than just intimately. That had never happened to me before. I actually enjoyed talking with her and listening as she told stories of growing up with her sisters. She was passionate when she spoke of her family and had a unique outlook on life. She laughed often and freely and had the the sound was the sweetest I'd ever heard.

What was happening to me? I didn't usually venture out this far emotionally. I was the first to admit, I could be rather shallow when it came to women. Sure, I was always good to the ladies, treated them with respect. I had a natural instinct on how to please a woman and make her feel wanted. I always prided myself on being a dedicated and patient lover who practiced safe sex and never forced myself on anyone. At the same time, those previous countless women had always understood that I came with a no-strings-attached agenda. Now, I found myself actually wondering what would happen with Rose after the week was up. It made no sense to think beyond the trip.

Edward warned me that something like this might happen to me someday. Quite honestly, it freaked me out a little to think I might not be able to make my usual clean break and walk away when the vacation was over. I was starting to suspect that one week with her wouldn't be long enough. And, although I didn't want to be crippled with regret or suffer a messy, emotional goodbye, I couldn't bring myself to end it with her right here and now, like I probably should. Oh well. I would cross that bridge when I came to it. For now, I just wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.

Of course, this all bordered on the assumption that she would want something more than just incredible sex with me.

**APOV**

"Wow! That was amazing!!" I said, enthusiastically as the show ended a little over an hour later. Jasper nodded sincerely in agreement as we made our way carefully down the rows of seats and out of the theatre. A juggling act was coming on next, but we had decided to forego that show.

"Very entertaining! Are all the shows that good?" Jasper asked. The boat was rocking back and forth more than before. Either the stabilizers weren't working properly or we were in extremely rough water.

"Well, some are better than others...Oh!! We should come back on the nights when the comedians perform. Especially if it's an adult show! The comedians tend to get a little raunchy if you're shy or sensitive to certain issues, but those are the best shows as far as I'm concerned."

Jasper had a bleak expression, but nodded along with me, again. I had the faint impression that he hadn't really heard me.

"What's wrong, Jasper?" I asked, trying to figure him out. "You're not looking so good." His face looked a little strange, yet his peircing eyes still shone, sweetly.

"I'm new to this, but... is _this_ normal on a cruise?"

"What?!" I asked, alarmed. I had a strange feeling he was going to ask if it was normal to fall in love on the first day.

"Don't you notice this incessant rocking?! I guess I thought the whole seasick thing was just an overdramatization, but it seems pretty real right now!! Is it going to be like this the whole time??" he asked, fearing the answer.

"Oh, _that_.. No. It isn't usually like this. I was just thinking that a minute ago. I've been on a lot of cruises, and this one is the worst as far as how choppy it's been so far. But it doesn't last the whole time. I'm sure they'll have it under control within an hour or two. Ya know, I'm starting to reconsider that juggling show. That might be pretty funny to see how he handles juggling everything with all this swaying..." I laughed lightly, but noticed Jasper wasn't laughing with me. His face had taken on a greenish tint.

"Alice, how badly would you hate me if we just went up to my cabin to wait this out, instead?" Jasper asked while closing his eyes and holding onto a railing for support. He was worse off than I realized.

"I wouldn't mind it at all. In fact, if you think you can make it there by yourself, you should go ahead. I will be right up. I think I need to get you some dramamine. It helps a lot with the sickness."

He opened his eyes long enough to hug me and then slowly started to walk away from me. "Thanks, Alice. You're a lifesaver. See you up there in a few minutes, then?"

"Umm. Are you forgetting something?" I crossed my arms and stared at him as the confused expression stayed firmly put on his face. "The room number might help... We don't want the whole issue of losing each other again."

"Oh!! Right!! Ninety-two-oh-six!" he said, somewhat apprehensively.

"I'll be right there." I winked.

What do ya know? Ninth floor!! Rose was right. Oh well! Wait til I told her I had actually been up in Jasper's room with him on the first night of the cruise. She would be shocked. So much for her being the direct one in the group! Of course I would leave out the fact that nothing crazy happened because he was sick. I smiled to myself as Jasper slowly walked away. It only took me a litte while to head down a few decks and find the the first-aid supplies and dramamine vending machines.

After feeding a couple quarters to the machine, and grabbing an extra packet of medicine, just to be on the safe side, I swiftly made my way over to the elevators, again. Already the rocking motion felt slightly calmer. It would be over in no time. I just hoped poor Jasper hadn't gotten sick on the way to his room.

**EPOV**

"That guy over there keeps looking at you. Now, he's waving like a lunatic." I said through gritted teeth as I turned my attention back to Bella. I pushed the brochures around a little on our table, trying to make sense out of them, but the mysterious guy was ruining my concentration with the intent stare he had fixed on Bella.

"Who? You mean that young kid back there?" She correctly guessed as her eyes flew to the sitting area just beyond the ice cream shop and back to me again.

"Yes. Him! Why is he smiling and waving like that? Do you know him or something?" I asked, trying hard to keep the irritation from creeping into my voice. His obvious display and juvenile attempt at flirting was embarrassing. Thankfully, Bella hadn't shown the slightest interest.

"I think we may have seen them in the terminal when we were boarding. Yeah...Rose was flirting with him and a friend of his, even though it's obvious he is only .. what- _eighteen -_ at the most? I told her she should've never encouraged him. He was pretty crazed over her by the time we got on board."

"Well, he seems quite taken with you, now!" I turned and gave the kid a somewhat menacing frown and stared him down, hoping he would get the hint and go somewhere else. Instead of being discouraged and leaving, he smiled an arrogant smile and leaned back a little further on his bench as if to say 'Screw you - I'm not going anywhere!' His attitude and cockiness was starting to get on my nerves.

Bella must've sensed my irritation, because she took my hand in hers and said "I may know how to get rid of him. Play along, ok?"

She playfully threw her hair back in a very sexy over-the-top kind of way and giggled as she took my hand. I didn't know what was going on, but somehow my sweet, innocent Bella from a minute ago, had been transformed into an ultra-sexy supermodel. She moved our ice cream sundae off to the side, out of the way, but not before dipping her finger into the butterscotch topping and rubbing it over her lower lip.

"_Ohhh, Edward!!_ You were so incredible!" She was cooing in a voice louder than normal for people who sitting so close to each other. She pushed her chair backward as she climbed over the table, animalistically, to get to me. When she was just two inches away from my face, she winked conspiratorially to me and whispered "Go a little overboard! Make this convincing!"

The next thing I knew, I was leaning across the scattered brochures on the table, kissing her deeply and licking the last of the butterscotch off her lips. It wasn't difficult to make it look convincing at all.

"Mmmm, Bella...!" No acting needed.

I had been thinking about kissing her all night, but never thought it'd be this insanely intense. She seemed so intent on playing her part that she didn't appear to need to breathe. Her mouth moved masterfully, and her eyelids fluttered and lowered, seductively, as she smiled. She appeared to be genuinely enjoying herself. I hoped that at least some of it was real emotion. I felt the smile on her face grow wider until she finally broke the contact between us, settling back into her chair with a thud and a satisfied look.

"There! I think that did it." She smirked as the young man cursed blatantly and stomped off, giving me the finger as he left.

"Oh, that _definitely_ did it, alright!" I agreed, knowing we weren't talking about the same thing. "Whew!" I muttered under my breath, grateful that I didn't have to stand up for anything just then.

"Ok.. so. Where were we, then, before we were so deliciously interrupted?" She laughed briefly and picked up as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. "Oh, right! The snorkeling... now, certain adventures... treasure hunt...oysters... pearl diving...conch... cook them right there in front of you if you catch...this one is sort of...Wanta try it?" She spoke as she handed me a brochure with a picture of a brightly colored party boat and fin-wearing people, face-down in the water, on the front of it. I had only caught a handful of her words.

"Uh huh." I said, not having the slightest idea what I was saying. For all I knew, I might've just agreed to rob a bank with her. I couldn't seem to pull my thoughts together. My mind was still wrapped around the events from before. Had that really happened?!

**APOV**

"That dramamine must be working. You're already looking much better." I smiled warmly at him, while still marveling at his luxurious suite. It must've cost a pretty penny for a room like this, but Jasper had shrugged it off when I'd expressed my opinion about it. I loved the fact that the brothers obviously came from money, yet none of them flaunted it. It made me that much crazier about Jasper.

"Well, I don't feel like a herd of rhinocerous- if that's even the correct terminology- are stampeding inside of my stomach anymore...so I'd have to say - yes, the medicine's working. Thank you. Maybe we can order room service in a little bit. I have a weakness for the chocolate covered strawberries...and... wait!! You said I'm looking better? Really?! How ugly did I look before?" he asked, throwing me off guard.

"Oh -Well...you didn't look ugly at all. You just looked kinda... sick." I tried to explain.

"So, let me see if I got this right. I wasn't ugly...I just looked sick,... but in a good way?" he reiterated.

"Yes. I mean -No... Look- that's not what I meant. _Arrggh_!" Why was he trying to frustrate me with these ridiculous mind games?

He was laughing at me while patting my hand. "I'm sorry. I'm used to messing with my brothers when they say something that can be taken out of context or twisted around. We do this thing where we see who can trip each other up the most. Sometimes I forget that our dumb little games aren't commonplace among everyone else, though."

I had to laugh when he explained it like that. It sounded a lot like us. "Bella, Rose, and I like to play meaningless, stupid, games too. In fact, one of our favorite games is called _'Death is Not an option'_...But it isn't for the squeemish or simple minded..." I smiled and waited for him to take the bait.

Jasper sat up slowly and stared intently at me. His eyes semed to focus more easily, now than they had before. He was almost completely back to normal, now. "Simple minded, huh?! I don't think so. I can take whatever you're dishing out."

"Are you sure?" I taunted as Jasper folded his arms and gave me a steely glare as his answer. "Ok, ok... Here's the premise. We'll keep it simple since this is your first time. Let's play a five question round. You can't back out once we start and you have to answer each question, honestly, and to the best of your ability, no matter how uncomfortable or gross the question is. Think you can handle that?"

"Bring it on."

I almost felt bad at seeing Jasper's overconfident smile. My sisters and I were usually brutal with our line of questioning and unique torture. Maybe I should take it easy on him for the first couple questions.

"Ok. First question. Death is not an option. If you have to suffer excrutiating pain from either freezing or burning temperatures which one would you choose and why."

Jasper's grin slowly faded as he contemplated my question. He rubbed his chin and after some consideration said "I guess I would choose to suffer from the cold. For some reason, cold doesn't seem to bother us as much as the heat. I guess we just kind of got used to it. Since I handle that better, it seems like the lesser of the two evils. Pretty easy game. Not much of a challenge at all..."

I let him revel in his glory for a minute before proceeding to a more difficult one. "You have to have sex with either Rosie O'Donnell or Kathy Bates. Who do you choose?"

He scrunched up his nose and looked at me sideways. "Ouch! Hitting a little below the belt with that one. Neither one are my ideal choice, you know."

"Really? And who would your ideal choice be?" I asked, knowing I was swimming in dangerous waters with this line of thinking. I wondered if I'd die if he said me. I wondered if I'd die if he didn't...

"No you don't. One question at a time! Besides, I don't think I'm going to answer that one because it isn't an official game question." He gave air quotes around the word official and smirked at me.

"Ok, smarty pants. No more stalling for time, then. What is your answer?"

"Fine! I reluctantly pick Kathy Bates because Rosie O'Donnell kinda creeps me out. It's like her head isn't proportioned properly for her body or something." He gave a little shudder which caused me to burst out laughing.

"Wow. I'm learning a lot of interesting and slightly weird things about you. Oh- here's a good one. If you had to give up either your favorite type of food or your favorite type of music, which would you give up?"

"I admit, these are getting harder. Obviously, I wouldn't want to give up either, but when it comes right down to it, I think I would be ok without my favorite type of food - which, by the way, is French cuisine. But I couldn't give up punk music!"

My eyes flew open wide in surprise. "Punk music?" I asked, waiting to see if this was a joke.

"Yeah. Punk, grunge, rock... I've got quite a few favorites I guess... Why? Something wrong with punk?" He was serious. He looked offended.

"No. It's cool. I listen to some punk, myself. I just didn't peg you for someone who listens to it. And - It doesn't really go with the French cuisine. That seems more refined. More you, in a way. Strange."

He didn't respond any more on the subject, but sat back and smiled at me in a rather sexy way, as if the questions hadn't required much thought, so far.

"Next question. You just found out that your girl spent the whole night locked in a bedroom with one of your brothers. You don't know yet which brother it was, but the idea of whether or not they were intimate is unknown. Just so we don't make your brothers out to be complete scoundrels, lets say in the scenario, they didn't know that this girl was someone you were crazy about. Would you rather it was Edward or it was Emmett locked in there with the girl of your dreams?" This question was difficult, but would tell me a lot about Jasper.

"Damn! Not a good situation. How can I pick either of those choices?" He asked, a slight edge to his voice.

"Well, that's why it's called death is not an option. Because otherwise we would choose to just die and get it over with. And these are easy questions compared to the ones Rose and Bella come up with for me a lot of times. Trust me. So. Since you would have to choose one of those, which would it be?" I was relentless.

"I would rather find out you'd been with Emmett all night." Jasper said and looked down quickly, but not before I caught his eye and smiled at the reference to me as his girl in the hypothetical situation.

"I'm not sure I understand why you said Emmett. I kinda get the impression that if he was the one locked in a room all night with your dream girl, it probably wouldn't be as innocent as if it was Edward in there." I stated calmly.

"Maybe not, but what you need to understand is that with Emmett it is strictly physical. He doesn't fall in love. Doesn't get attached. If Edward had been intimate with my girl, well, that would be bad news for me. He doesn't just sleep with someone for the sake of sleeping with them. It would mean he was pretty serious about her. I'd risk losing her for good."

I was taken back and a little choked up, but Jasper's answer made sense. Jasper's heart could heal in a situation where his girl had had a fling with Emmett, but with Edward it was an all-or-nothing deal. That answer had told me almost as much about Edward's character as Jasper's. A two for one! Bella would be happy to learn about my new information. As much as she joked about having a fun time with no strings attached, it was obvious that she'd wanted a meaningful relationship for a while, now.

The only thing that didn't fit into the whole equation was the way Jasper had explained Emmett. With the way Emmett had been acting around Rose lately, I really had to wonder if he was quite as shallow as Jasper pegged him. Maybe Jasper hadn't seen what I'd seen.

"Last question. Would you rather have your heart seriously broken or break someone else's heart?" I asked, but wasn't at all prepared for what happened next.

Jaspers blue eyes clouded over and the light seemed to have been quickly snuffed out like a candle. His smile was gone and was replaced with a frown. He stared at the ceiling and seemed to be thinking back on a painful memory and I almost wished I hadn't asked him the question, yet at the same time, I was too curious to take it back. I just wished he would hurry up and answer. I couldn't stand the tormented look on his face.

"I've had my heart badly broken. It hurts like hell. I don't want to go back there." He said softly, yet very seriously. He lowered his gaze from the ceiling and looked directly at me, taking me into his confidence. I realized I had clenched my fists at some point and was driving my own fingernails into my palms, cutting them. His words weren't just words. There was a reason he was sharing this with me. I had a sudden unexplainable urge to hit someone. I wanted to pulverize whoever had hurt him like that.

"I can understand that you wouldn't want to go through that again." I nodded and laid my head against his chest to listen to his heart beat. I wished I could erase the harm that'd been done to him by the unknown evil.

"That's just it, Alice. It taught me something. I know how bad it feels so how could I possibly do that to someone else? I would let my own heart be broken again before I would intentionally break your ... before I would break someone else's heart."

That was the moment that it hit me. And it hit me hard. Like a ton of bricks. If I wasn't already in love with him, I would be before long. And I didn't care what anyone thought of me rushing in. I wanted it. I wanted him. I would abandon everything else to have love like that.

"Is that it? Is it over?" Jasper asked, the color returning to his face. I simply nodded because I couldn't speak yet. How could he possibly know what was going through my mind. Would he think I was crazy if I told him?

**RPOV**

After getting dressed for the fourth time and making a mutual promise with Emmett that we'd keep our hands off each other until we succesfully made it out of the room, we headed downtairs for a little dancing.

My mind was still reeling from the past few hours spent with him. To say he was amazing didn't do Emmett justice. He was so far beyond that, it wasn't even funny. He was by far the sexiest man I'd ever been with, and I still wanted more of him. I realized that it didn't even matter what we did as long as we were spending time together.

"This place looks nice." Emmett said, flippantly, as we approached the dance club.

"It's a twenty-one and up club. So no kids allowed in here, which makes for a little more adult and risque setting. Come on. I think you'll like it." I grinned cooly, leading Emmett into the room behind me.

The Cinn-A-Bar was hopping tonight. Everywhere I looked, people were bathed in the red fluorescent glow of the room and danced in a carefree manner. And why shouldn't they? Everyone could stay out as late as they wanted. They could drink as much as they wanted, too. No one would be needing a designated driver. The club played the latest songs and top twenties from the station I usually listened to. It was right up my alley.

Jesse McCartney's '_Leaving_' blared as Emmett smiled in appreciation and began singing along with the song.

I already liked the song, but it was so much more enjoyable the way Emmett inched closer and closer as he sang it to me and looked at me with those dark soulful eyes...

"_Now if I talk it girl, you know that I will walk it out...Man, I'll put my money (money) where my mouth is..."_

He winked at that part. Yes, I knew he could definitely walk the walk. I tried not to giggle like a lovesick idiot as his arms wrapped around my waist and he pulled me against him.

_"...Cause you're the baddest little thing that I've ever seen. So I'ma ask you one time if you've got a man. Why don't you tell him that 'I'm leavin' - Never looking back again.' You found somebody who does it better than he can..."_

I was impressed that Emmett had a lot of the original mannerisms from the music video down. It was a hot video.. I could tell from watching him dance earlier with his brothers that he had a natural rhythym and probably picked up on choreography, quickly.

Emmett leaned in and brushed his nose against mine. An eskimo kiss. His hands glided along my hips,then down to my rear as we pressed our bodies together. The proximity of him sent me on a rush again and left me torn between wanting to kiss him full on and wanting to hear him sing the end of the song. He had a rich, resonating voice. I decided I'd let him finish serenading me and then I would kiss him.

_"..So call your shorty and tell him you found a new man. The one who's so so fly. The one to keep you high. Have you singing all night night night..."_

He hit every note. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. His sexy lips were calling to me. I kissed him, roughly, biting at his lips, flicking my tongue over his. I didn't care if anyone and everyone saw us. I was caught up in the moment and wanted to live it to the fullest. I briefly wondered whether Emmett had a girlfriend back in California. Some pretty little thing who'd be overjoyed to welcome him back home.

I frowned and quickly asked the question before I chickened out. "Emmett..." I said, nearly breathless.

"Have I told you that I love the way you say my name." he whispered and kissed me again. For a second, the feel of his mouth moving on mine almost made me forget what I wanted to ask. Before I was pulled under again, I spit it out.

"Emmett, is there a girl waiting for you in California?" I froze up and stared at his face, waiting for a wince or a look that would confirm my suspicions.

"California?! No. There's no one in California. Why would you think - oh, right. You probably thought I might have a girlfriend at home. Is that what's got you so put off? Well, not to worry, baby, there's no one in California."

I let out a small breath of relief that I tried probably unsuccesfully to hide. I pretended to act casual about it, as if everything hadn't been riding on that answer.

"Wait." I said, tensing up again. I wanted to be sure I understood what he was saying. Emmett was single?!Had I left a loophole in my questioning? It sounded too unbelievably far-fetched to be believed. "You said there was no one in California. Does that mean there's a girl somewhere else? Maybe she went off to college in another state or something like that and you didn't mention it since I didn't ask it outright?."

I nervously played with my hair. What the hell was I doing? I was setting myself up for disappointment! That was what I was doing! Of course there had to be a girl. He was way too hot to be unattatched.

"Rose, there's no other girl... _anywhere_. You're the only person I am seeing right now. Ok?" He asked as he raised his eyebrows at me and held his arms out.

I stayed there in his arms, loving the way he buried his face in my hair. He silently held me, not even remotely pushing me away like the completely obsessive psycho I was starting to feel like...

The D.J. decided to veer off track with the playlist, unexpectedly. I didn't know the new song, but the opening instrumentals promised a nice slow beat which meant I'd stay pressed against Emmett. It was kind of pretty. Normally, switching to an unheard of, older song, would've irritated me, but the lyrics were promising. Ironic.

_"I've heard it said that romance was dead and gone.  
And I almost believed it was true - til the moment you came along.  
I know it's so hard to find romance when the world moves so fast. But when I look at you, I get the feeling these feelings will last.  
Let's make our own romance. We've got time. We've got love. That's always been enough. Why don't we take a chance. Pull me in close and dance. Can you bring me your heart. Bring on the stars. Bring back romance..._

_I've been alone. I know you've been there, too. So you know when there's no one to hold, moonlight can make you blue. But now, somehow, we've got each other to fill up the night.  
And once we strike a spark, it wont take long before a fire will ignite..._

_Working together, we'll build our love, and once we've built it strong, it's gonna last forever"_

The duet was powerful, igniting all kinds of long-buried thoughts in me. "Do you know this song by any chance?" I asked Emmett.

He shook his head. "I think I may have known it, a long time ago. I barely remember the words, though. Why?"

"Oh. I just thought it would make for a nice karaoke duet if we could learn it...but no big deal." I said, shrugging it off and humming softly as the somewhat predictable, but catchy, chorus came around again.

I breathed Emmett in and languished in his warmth. His whole body radiated heat and I couldn't stop myself from feeling dizzy each time his eyes locked with mine and he smiled that adoring smile. It was no use. I knew I couldn't pretend that this was just a casual fling. I realized that for better or worse, Emmett was changing me.

_A/N: That pretty much wraps up what everyone did their first night on the cruise. For those of you who are judging me harshly because Rose and Emmett were a bit hasty...Don't worry. They are falling in love, in their own way. This is new for them. You have to understand that physical relationships are all they've ever had in the past (In this story, anyway) so they don't really know how to act, yet. They'll get there. _

_Bella planned out their activities for everyone for the following day. Edward was just in a bit of a haze so he doesn't really know what he agreed to. Hehe... That should be fun._

_Also - for the songs I listed. Obviously Jesse McCartney's 'Leavin' was the first one Rose & Emmett danced to. (Music video is pretty hot.. you've seen it? Then you know what I'm talking about) The second song excites me every time I hear it. It is called "Romance" but in order to actually find it anywhere, you'd have to go to youtube and type 'Terri Nunn and Paul Carrack - Romance' in the search. The song is from a 1989 movie called 'Sing' which is pretty much my fave movie. I used another song from the movie in my other story, too. _

_Last, but not least - ENJOY!! I love you and hope you haven't given up on me. I am still writing, I promise!! xoxoxoxo_


	9. The Love Bug

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer is still the proud owner of all Twilight related books and characters. And I am still the owner of my crazy Bon Voyage chapters!! Ok- 'On with the show'!!

Ch 9 The Love Bug

BPOV

It was almost 2am by the time I returned to my stateroom. My mind wouldn't slow down. I kept rehashing everything over and over. I still couldn't believe I had kissed him like that. I remembered the wild look on his face. I'd never calm down enough to get to sleep like this. I was thinking maybe I should just go and try to find a quiet lounge or someplace to read the book I had brought along. Only one problem with that plan. Alice and Rose had already seen my glowing face when I came back to the room, and knew that something monumental had happened. There would be no shutting them up until I talked.

"Come on, Bella. You know I'll just keep pestering you until you eventually tell me, anyway." Alice's eyes were wide in anticipation and she spoke in a loud, frenzied voice. Even Rose stared at me from across the room. She had taken the other full size bed and had somehow, convinced Alice to sleep in the top pull down bed.

"You were the last one to get back to the room... So, did you have a nice time with Edward? What did you guys do all night?" Alice rubbed her hands together and waited for juicy details of a secret scandal to come spilling out. Even Rosalie checked the time on her watch.

"We were discussing the excursions for tomorrow." I said, knowing there was no way they were going to drop the issue that easily.

"Keep going." Rose insisted.

"Well, everything was going along fine and all of a sudden Edward got all jealous over this kid that he claims was trying to flirt with me. And then...I sorta kissed him." I confessed in a rushed voice as I kicked off my high heels and rubbed my aching feet.

"You kissed some kid? Wow, that's highly unusual." Rose said, making me want to slap the stupid off of her.

"I think she means she kissed Edward." Alice rolled her eyes and turned back to me. "But you said you sorta kissed him? How do you _sorta_ kiss someone?" Alice repeated, emphasizing the sorta.

"Actually, I _really_ kissed him! In fact it was Rose-worthy!" I beamed, unable to hide my excitement.

"OhMyGod!! Tell us everything!! How was it?" Alice asked, her mouth open in surprise. Rose sat up in bed, now hanging on my every word.

"It was delicious. Wet.. And sticky..." I smiled, thinking back to the butterscotch I had rubbed on my lips before I kissed Edward.

"_Sticky_?! What the-" Rose asked. "I think we'd better hear the whole story."

I took a deep breath and reenacted my tale to a very hyper Alice and Rosalie. Alice covered her mouth to hide her squeels as I mentioned the butterscoth topping and showed them how I flung my hair back and crawled across the table to kiss Edward. Rose nodded appreciatively.

"Yep. A classic move. Very smooth." Rose said. "So then you just went back to discussing the excursions as if nothing had happened? So sexy. I love it."

"Yes. But my heart was racing a million miles an hour. I was sure Edward would notice, but he didn't really say much about it."

"I didn't know you had it in you. I'm impressed! Of course, it just goes to show you that I was right all along. You didn't think I should've been flirting with those guys in the terminal, but if I hadn't, the kid never would've gone all stalker on your ass and Edward wouldn't have gotten crazy-jealous. Basically, you wouldn't have had an excuse to kiss Edward like that." Rose exclaimed as I grimaced at her explaination.

"Well, I played _'death is not an option'_ today with Jasper and learned some pretty interesting things..." Any excuse for her to talk about Jasper some more.. "I learned things about Jasper and Edward." Alice blurted, capturing my attention.

"Oh?.." I raised my eyebrows at the mention of Edward's name.

"Yes. Turns out Edward is a total romantic, Bella. He probably went as nuts over that kiss as you did. I bet he is still up in his room thinking about it right now. He is probably dying to kiss you again." A thrill of emotion rushed through me and my cheeks warmed at her words. I shook my head, trying to clear my mind and come back down to earth.

"And what did you learn about Jasper?" I teased, not acknowledging the information about Edward.

"I learned that he has been hurt in the past, but is still capable of great love. I was with him all night in his room and I think I did something you wouldn't approve of. I'm not sure how to handle certain issues, now." She said, looking down, quickly.

"You've got to be kidding me! You slept with him!?" Rose asked, loudly, as I tensed up. I hoped that wasn't what she meant.

"No. But to tell you the truth, I don't think I would've objected to that if it had gone that route. We ended up eating chocolate covered strawberries all night and talking a lot."

"Talking?! Pshh!! You had me going for a minute there. I thought you actually did something bad." Rose said in a slighlty disappointed tone as she sank back down under the covers. I could tell she was bored with the lack of confession on Alice's part.

"The issue isn't what I did, Rose. It's what I realized." Alice continued, drawing it out. I yawned once and Alice glared at me. Exhaustion was finally kicking in.

"Sorry. I'm getting a little tired here. Can you please just spit it out, Alice? We have to be up again in about five hours. I want to be well rested and refreshed for our dates tomorrow."

"I'm in love with him. There!! I said it. And before you tell me that I'm stupid and I don't know what I'm talking about, let me add this. There is nothing you can possibly say to me that will make any difference at this point!! I know you think it's impossible to be in love with someone you've only known for one day. But I am! He was meant for me!!" Alice crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes into slits as she waited for the onslaught. She looked downright scary when she was in this mood.

"I know what you mean." Rose added, now sitting up, again. "They've got some sort of strange sexual powers, I think." She whispered and was dead serious as she stared into my eyes.

"Oh, Good Lord! Not you, too! Am I the only one who hasn't gone mad around here? Yes, I know they're charming and funny and cute..." Alice cut me off.

"Oh, please, Bella! They are way beyond cute!!" She gave me a dirty look before talking to Rose again. "Oh My God!! So, you slept with Emmett?! Was it incredible?" Alice rushed on in an octave high enough to give me an instant headache.

Rose smiled a big stupid looking smile and nodded.

"Great. Alice falls in love at the drop of a hat and Rose has typical sex on the first day." I said, frustrated. "Way to play it cool and make them come to you."

"Oh, I made him come to me quite a few times. And there was nothing typical about it." Rose sighed in her dreamy eyed way as Alice feigned shock by gasping and throwing a pillow down from her bunk, narrowly missing Rose.

"Bella, please don't be like that. Come on. Are you gonna sit there and tell me you don't have any feelings for Edward?" Alice asked as Rose nodded, taking sides against me. "He serenaded you and took you to a boring old art auction and everything."

"I can't believe I am having to explain the differences in our situations to both of you. Ok - Yes, I have feelings for Edward. But it's only been one day. I thought I might take it slow and not run off like a fool, proclaiming my undying love or jumping into bed with him."

Alice looked more pissed than I'd seen her in a long time. "I can't help what I feel, Bella. I know this was meant to be. And for your information, I didn't express my undying love like a fool, as you put it. I didn't tell him I love him at all, in fact."

"Well, that's something at least." I said, letting out a breath of relief. "So... he isn't aware of your epiphany?"

"Not yet." She said, defiantly. "I have been playing by the rules, and not jeopardizing our alibi because I know it's important to you. But I don't know if I can feel like this and then just say goodbye to Jasper when the trip is over. Guys like him are one in a million."

"I was going to say more like one in a billion about Emmett. I've dated tons of guys and none have come close to the way he makes me feel. I'm not just talking about his sexual prowess, either. These three are something special. You can't deny it, Bella. Do you think you'll be ok saying good bye to Edward at the end of the week, knowing if you don't do something you'll never see him again? I've never seen you as smiling and happy as when you're around him. Can you honestly picture him in another woman's arms, kissing her the way he kissed you, tonight? Because that's what we're up against here."

I had to frown as I thought about what Rose said. She was right. I had a hard time picturing Edward with anyone but myself. How had things gotten so complicated so quickly?? I couldn't think of a single thing to say to deter my sisters without coming off sounding like a hypocrite. I sighed in defeat. The truth was, deep down, I was afraid they just might be on to something and it scared the hell out of me, because if this was love, we were all screwed.

EPOV

I wasn't surprised to see my brothers still awake when I made it back to the room. Although it was already 2am, no one was ready to go to sleep yet. Jasper fell onto the floor in hysterics as Emmett lip synched the lines to an old episode of 'Chico and the Man' that he happened to remember pretty well, apparently. They were both in a great mood. Their dates must've been pretty good, too. _Ok. Just play it cool, Edward_..

"About time you got back!! Didn't Cinderella turn back into a pumpkin a couple hours ago!?" Emmett turned off the t.v. and started in on me right away, hands on his hips in mock scolding. Most likely, he was just sore that he hadn't "_scored_" and that I'd come in later than him.

"I'm pretty sure it wasn't _Cinderella_ who turned into the pumpkin in the first place, Emmett.." Jasper held a finger in the air, ready to argue his case, but quickly shut up when he realized he was discussing Disney princesses with Emmett.

Emmett completely ignored the statement. " I'm dying to find out what you and Bella planned out for us to do tomorrow. It better be something good.." I tried my best to act casual. I didn't want to admit that I was completely clueless about everything that had happened since Bella kissed me. If we made plans, I had no idea what they were.

"Well, we're probably just going to play it by ear, tomorrow. The girls have been to Nassau many times before, so they'll leave it up to us to decide. If we see something that looks interesting, we can try it and they'll come with us. Simple as that." I shrugged and tried to portray a look of innocence, but somehow, I didn't think I was fooling Jasper.

"Sounds to me like the excursions didn't even come up in your conversations." Jasper hit the nail on the head in an instant and he knew it. I was the first among the three of us to break eye contact. I might as well have admitted to the accusation. "So, you guys spent all night together and didn't come up with any concrete plans. Is that what you're saying?! So what really happened?" Jasper gave me a puzzled look as Emmett spun around almost giving himself whiplash in the process. Jasper was a smart one. I had to give him credit. The scowl on Emmett's face told me he was upset with himself for almost getting duped so easily. Of course, that look was replaced almost instantaneously with a mischievous, lopsided grin as he elbowed Jasper, playfully.

"You know what _that_ means!! Whoa!! Way to go, Edward. No wonder there are no plans. I take it you were too busy with... _other things_?" Emmett was winking and nudging Jasper some more. As Jasper's realization of what Emmett meant sunk in, both of my idiot brothers smiled at each other as if they had solved one of the great mysteries of the world.

Emmett wouldn't drop it. "But, ya know what's so funny about that, Edward? You're the one who always lectures us about how we should actually try to listen to our dates, instead of just staring at their bodies. Sounds like you needed to take some of your own advice tonight, huh, lover boy?? Did you hear anything she said, at all??" Emmett was making a tsk tsk sound in my direction and was getting on my last nerve. I needed a diversion for him because if he didn't shut up, I was going to punch him.

"We started talking about the plans over ice cream when we were interrupted." I said, letting the honesty in that staement show on my face." And, it's probably all solved by now, but basically, Bella became a little sidetracked when she had to discourage some unwated advances from a guy who was flirting shamelessly with her. Apparently him and his friend are pretty crazed over Rose, too..." I said in a deliberately drawn out way. I let that sink in as Emmett's self assured smile turned into a frown and his fists clenched. That got his attention! He suddenly became very focused and wide awake.

"What?! Who the hell are these guys? I'll beat the crap out of them!" He yelled, jumping up and flexing his muscles, unnecessarily. He looked like he had the stamina to run a marathon all of a sudden. Jasper had a similar, yet slighlty more panicked look on his face as he got to his feet and paced around the room.

"What about Alice? Do these guys want her too?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

By distracting my brothers, I might be able to keep Bella's vixen-like transformation to myslef and not have to try to explain my complete lack of excursion planning. "Probably. Alice is a cutie, too." I answered. I felt a little guilty about playing up to Jasper's paranoia, but I knew if his mind was on Alice, it wouldn't be on grilling me. Besides, how could I properly explain what had happened with Bella, when I was still puzzled over the whole thing, myself. And for all I knew, my story wasn't necessarily so far fetched. If those young guys were obsessing over Rose and Bella, the odds were pretty high that Alice would be included, too.

Jasper and Emmett both seethed with anger, no doubt imagining the worst case scenario in their minds as if it had played out with their respective girls.

"I don't know about you two, but I plan on spending as much time with Rose as she'll let me. I need to find some way to get myself invited along to the rest of their excursions and sight-seeings. I want the whole week with her, if possible. I need to be around to protect her and make sure those perverted assholes arent stalking her, either." Emmett said, surprising me with the amount of emotion that went into the words.

He had a strange expression on his face that I couldn't quite place. There was something other than rage going on inside him. Probably lust. Most likely he just hadn't gotten a chance to sleep with her, yet. Emmett could be so very predictable.

"Well, even if I spent every minute of my remaining time with Alice, I just don't know if one week is going to be long enough. I think I might be interested in something more lucritive. I came pretty close to telling her I love her, today. It's crazy, but I'm actually sorry I helped come up with that phony identity story. Girls like these three don't come along every day, you know." Jasper said, defiantly, as he stared at us. He always chose his battles wisely, and could be unmoveable when he made his mind up about something. I had a feeling this was one of those times.

"I know what you mean." Emmett muttered under his breath. I wasn't sure that was what he really said until I noticed Jasper standing shell shocked with his mouth hanging open as if he'd just discovered something that had eluded me.

"You're in love with Rosalie, aren't you?" Jasper asked, softly, causing me to gasp.

Emmett's eyes quickly darted to me and for a moment we all stood there, not speaking, not moving. No one said anything, until Emmett finally broke the silence by letting out the breath he'd been holding and nodded. "Yeah. I think so. Of course how would I know? I've never had the urge to stay on with one girl after..." He cut the sentence there, clearing his throat.

"W-o-w!" Jasper said, dragging out the word. "Who the hell are you and what happened to my insensitive, obnoxious, skirt chasing brother?"

"Shut up, dumbass!" Emmett countered. "Don't laugh at this, but I think I'd actually enjoy being friends with her, too. I liked being with Rose - even afterward - when we were still sitting there and she was telling me some crazy story about a shopping adventure with Alice. It makes me think maybe I shouldn't be so quick to end things with her."

Upon close inspection, I noticed telltale traces of leftover chocolate-covered strawberries. I don't know how I had missed all the little stems on plates throughout the room, before. So, Emmett hadn't 'struck out' after all. Yet here he was talking as if he had real feelings for Rose. I still didn't know if I believed it. Part of me expected a full camera crew to jump out from behind our curtains or something any minute now, to tell me I'd been punk'd.

Jasper followed my line of sight and stared off in the same direction, trying to locate whatever it was that I was looking at.

"What is it, Edward?" he asked, scrutinizing the curtains by the balcony.

"Just wondering where the hell Ashton Kutcher is, that's all." I said in a detached voice.

"Ashton Kutcher! You're making a joke?! I can't believe you don't have more to say than that. Why do I tell you anything?" Emmett growled. His intense glare was unsettling.

"What the hell do you want me to say, Emmett? Congratulations to you and Jasper. When are the weddings?" My voice was strained and came out in a more cynical tone than I had wanted.

"I was thinking maybe next April." Jasper answered in a smart-ass way. At least I hoped it was a smart-ass way. Jasper had an amazing talent for correctly interpreting everyone else's emotions while masking his own if he felt like it, so I could never be sure with him.

Emmett still had a furious look on his face and his rigid stance and locked jaw told me he was already on the defensive. He chose his words carefully, keeping his emotions in check. "We didn't plan for this to happen. It just - did! You're probably worried because you think we don't know what we're doing. I'm sure to you, this must seem like I'm diving headfirst into a pool before looking to make sure there's water in it, but that's not the case. I need you to trust me on this, Edward. You said one day I would find someone worth growing up for. My gut is telling me that Rose could be the one."

"Look, I have to admit, I'm pretty damn impressed with Bella, too. I'm enjoying every minute with her, but this isn't something you realize over the course of one day. All I'm saying is take it slow. We don't know them well enough, yet, to make these kind of decisions."

It was Jasper's turn to be serious. "You're saying to give it time to be sure? Ok. Fine! I'll humor you. But, Edward, what are you going to do at the end of this vacation, when you realize that Alice and I still feel the same way? I'm not prepared to go our separate ways and lose her. I know Wisconsin is a long distance from Washington, but I think I might be able to make it work, somehow. I have to - because the alternative is unbearable."

The sincerity in his voice and the reassuring nods and smiles from Emmett told me I was outnumbered. I let out a long, slow breath. "Then I'll make a deal with you. If, by the end of the cruise, you're both still determined to tell the girls the truth, I won't stand in your way. In fact, I will be the first to apologize to them and try to explain the reasoning behind using an alternate identity. It'll soften the blow. But you've got to promise that you'll do everything you can to learn about the girls and make sure their intentions are pure. We can't risk someone trying to cozy up to us to get their hands on the money. Mom worked hard to leave that for us and we wouldn't be doing her any justice if we were careless with it. "

"You know as well as I do that the girls aren't gold diggers. But if you need proof, I will find some way to make you see it, beyond a shadow of a doubt. " Emmett spoke up.

Even as he said it, a nervousness came over me. I somehow knew that Emmett was right. In fact, if I was a betting man, I would've put money on the odds that our new girlfriends weren't concerned with money at all. That wasn't what was worrying me. As crazy as I was becoming over Bella and as much as I was wanted to believe that somehow, miraculously, we had all found true love on the first night of our cruise, I couldn't ignore a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach. I had a bad feeling that nothing was going to work out the way my brothers hoped it would.

"I'm going to try to get some sleep just in case the girls are early birds." I said, pulling out a pair of pajama pants to sleep in.

"I doubt Rose is an early bird, but it couldn't hurt to be well rested just in case." Emmett agreed.

"Just make sure you clear up all the plates from your strawberry pigsty first. Damn, Emmett!! Did you and Rose leave any strawberries for anyone else on the ship? Really - How many did you order?! Anyway - you'll have to clean up after yourself, now. The turn down service is already done for today." I said, noticing the chocolates placed meticulously near our pillows and spotting a stingray-shaped towel-animal peering down at us from the top of our dressers.

"Umm..that's actually my mess. Well, mine and Alice's...I'll take care of it right now." Jasper confessed in a whisper as he avoided eye contact and carefully made his way through the room, picking up several plates along the way.

Emmett and I raised our eyebrows in surprise as we shared a look, yet, neither of us asked Jasper the burning question that was on our minds.

_A/N: I hadn't finished writing what I wanted to say, but I figured I should stop this chapter right here so I can go into the whole next day as the next chapter.. BTW - Don't freak if Edward seemed a little OOC here for a bit. He isn't really pessimistic or cynical, for the most part. He believes in true love, but he just doesn't want to see his brothers get hurt and regret rushing in. Their wealth and anonymity means a lot to the brothers - they can't risk anyone trying to cheat them out of the money left to them when their mom passed away. It's all they have left of her so they try to honor her by being smart in decisions of who they trust. Edward knows that Bella is a trustworthy person, but he can't vouch for Alice or Rose at this point. It will be explained more and make better sense as time goes on. Hang in there. The excursions that Bella planned (kinda with a clueless Edward) are coming in the next chapter.. Heehee_


	10. Alcohol for breakfast?

DIsclaimer: I own an alternate universe in which the Cullen men do my bidding. (I know it's not as cool as being Stephenie Meyer and having the real deal, but I have to work with what I've got..) hehe

Ch 10 Alcohol for breakfast?

APOV

For only getting four and a half hours of sleep, I was surprised at how chipper we all were. Even Rose, who usually mopes around until she's had at least two cups of coffee and a half-hour long shower wasn't bitchy this morning. Isn't love amazing?

Bella reached across the night stand and hit the little button on the alarm to silence it, but as usual, we had all woken up a few minutes before it had gone off, anyway. I can't explain how it was possible, but our internal clocks always worked better than any room or phone alarm. I chalked it up to one of those weird triplet phenomenons. All we had to do was concentrate on what time we wanted to wake up. We would think of the time as we fell asleep and our internal clocks did the rest. It was accurate down to a three minute margin of eror.

"This is going to be so much fun. I'm a little surprised that the guys are ok with this, though." I said to Bella as I threw my covers off and ran to the dresser to locate a bathing suit and extra change of clothes.

"Edward said they'd love it and couldn't wait... Or something along those lines. Anyway - It just goes to show you that not all men are into their macho-bullshit appearances. Our guys are more mature than that. I think they're very secure with their masculinity." Bella assured me with a little smile.

"Mmm...masculinity..." Rose mumbled in a very Homer Simpson kind-of-way and giggled. "Bella, if you want to go ahead and take your shower, first, you can. I took mine last night since I was the first one back to the room." Rose had no problem admitting this bit of info because she knew no one would ever mistake her for the party-pooper type. The 'early-to-bed, early-to-rise' phrase took on a whole new meaning in her context.

Bella kept her distance and stared open-mouthed at Rose as if she was afraid to believe what she was seeing. She probably figured the rabid, snarling and biting Rose, would resurface at any time and she didn't want to be too close when the Jeckyl and Hyde transformation occured.

"I'm going to make a run downstairs for some danish and coffee. Who wants some?" Rose asked as she bounced around in a fidgety way.

I raised my hand, quickly and glanced at Bella who didn't look scared any more, but she still looked confused. She shook her head once and muttered "No thanks. This is a little too weird for me. I think I need the steam from that hot shower to clear my head."

Without another word to anyone, Rose left to get breakfast and Bella stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. As the water ran, I thought I heard her humming a happy tune.

I had nothing to do but wait for my turn to use the shower. I wasn't in the mood to watch t.v. so I passed some of the time looking out my porthole window. After a few minutes, that got old and I thought about calling Jasper's room, instead. I'd love to hear his voice. I bet he sounded sexy even early in the morning. The idea instantly made me glow with happiness and I was glad to be alone in the room with my giddy thoughts.

I picked up the phone and dialed the number but hung up on the first ring. He was probably busy getting ready, too. It wasn't fair of me to take away from his prep time just because I couldn't wait another hour to talk to him in person. After a few minutes with nothing better to do, I began pacing the small room, impatiently, and wondered why it was taking Rose so long to get back.

--

After what seemed like an eternity of watching Rose drink her coffee and eat cherry with cream cheese danishes, my sisters were finally ready to meet up with the guys.

"Ok. So, what room are they in?" Rose asked as we headed upstairs on the elevator.

"You're kidding me, right? I thought you were... you know...with Emmett yesterday." I stopped dead in my tracks and looked at Rose.

"I was. I never said we were in _his_ room, though. You must've known that. You were the one in the room with Jasper so how would I have been in there?" She said and grinned slyly.

"I just figured you guys must have been in that room together _before_ Jasper and I had gone there. Eeew! No wonder you took that lower bed in our stateroom instead of your usual top bunk." I grimaced when I thought of how close I had come to taking the tainted lower bed.

Bella smirked as if she found the whole thing amusing.

"Here it is." I said as we reached ninety-two-oh-six. I gently knocked on the door as Rose quickly adjusted her heaving breasts to a more perky position and Bella puckered her lips to evenly refresh her lip gloss once again.

When no response could be heard, I knocked again. After a few minutes, Rose became impatient and moved me out of the way, taking her place in front of me at the door.

"Emmett!! It's Rose. Come and let me in!!" She yelled at the top of her lungs and knocked loudly at the door, not caring if housekeeping or any of the passengers heard her ruckus.

Within five minutes, a very groggy and somewhat sweet and innocent Emmett, answered the door, dressed only in his boxers.

"Hey, Baby. You're up early. Damn, you're just as sexy first thing in the morning as you are the rest of the time." He mumbled on and staggered as he rubbed his eyes and pulled Rose to him in a sensual embrace.

Rose smiled, savoring his compliments and the way he held her body tight against his. We were barely an afterthought.

"Yep. I'm up bright and early and all ready to go. My sisters are ready, too." She stressed, reminding Emmett that they weren't alone.

"Your _sisters_?!" He said with a confused, sappy look on his face as Bella and I waved our hellos to him from the hallway. "Honey, you know I only have eyes for you."

"Oh my god! You're so funny, Emmett. So, are you guys almost ready for the excursions or what?" Rose asked as she snuggled up to Emmett and rubbed her hand playfully across his somewhat stubbly chin.

"Umm...Shit! We're still gonna need a minute. What time are we supposed to be down there, again, anyway?" Emmett asked, a look of panic creeping to his face.

"Well... in about fifteen minutes." Rose said. "Why? What's wrong?"

That was when I heard the synchronized snoring coming from inside the room. "Wait. Were you guys still asleep?!" I asked, pushing my way past Emmett into the room and over to Jasper's bed.

"They were!! I can't believe it!" Bella shrieked, following me into the room, taking only a moment to glance around the luxurious suite before her eyes fell on Edward's motionless body. His chest and lower abdomen were exposed and even I had to admit that he was nicely contoured. His covers had been pushed down and wound around his legs in a mess of tangles. I noticed Bella's expression instantly change from shock to lingering amazement. The hungry look in her eyes said it all.

I jumped onto Jasper's bed and watched as his mouth turned up slightly at the corners. He kept his eyes closed, but his cover was blown. "I know you're awake." I leaned down and whispered, brushing my mouth against his ear, causing him to laugh slightly and knock me off balance so I fell on top of him, laughing.

He kissed me softly and sat upright. "Now this is a perfect beginning to a beautiful day...I wake up and you're the first thing I see... Oh! Hi, Bella. Rose. What's up?" He asked, realizing the whole family was in the room.

"Um..The excursions? I don't want us to be late." Bella explained, her hands on her hips as Edward stirred into conciousness. He smiled a wide smile, pleased with the way Bella was silently admiring his almost naked form.

"Edward, did you forget what time the excursions were?" Bella asked Edward. She seemed to be supressing a giggle.

"I remembered we had excursions together, today." Edward answered, masterfully dodging the rest of the question. "And we don't take very long to get ready."

"Hmph! Well, that's a good thing, because that gives you..." She checked the time on her waterproof watch. "... about seven minutes before we have to leave the ship and meet with the rest of the tour group on the dock at Nassau." Bella crossed her arms over her chest, but still didn't look upset. Actually, she seemed kind of amused by something.

"Seven minutes!?" Emmett and Jasper both screeched, together as they shot daggers at Edward out of their eyes. "Can you excuse me, my darling?" Jasper asked as he slowly moved out from under me and then dashed toward the bathroom in record time, tripping Emmett along the way and narrowly beating him to the door by half a second. Rose consoled a pouting, babylike Emmett.

"We can wait for you guys downstairs in the main lobby near the exit doors." I rolled my eyes and said to whoever felt like listening.

"Ok. That sounds good. We'll be ready in no time. Not to worry. Meet you down there." Edward replied and nodded to Bella as he sprawled out across his bed, shamelessly. He was giving Bella a 'see anything you like?' kind of look that was melting her. Even half asleep these men were sexually potent.

I pulled a rather stunned Bella back toward the door, and stopped to wait for Rosalie. Out of all of us, she seemed to be the most affected by her man's charms this morning. She hadn't taken a step away from Emmett, even when he had fallen down, courtesy of Jasper. Instead, she leaned in and spoke to him in her soft, ultra-sexy, voice.

"Too bad your brother got to that bathroom before you did. I could've gone in with you and helped you get ready." I overheard her say.

_Oh, yuck!_ I tried to block the conversation from my ears by thinking of something else. Anything else.. Jasper.. My sweet, wonderful Jasper. Today I would tell him I love him..

"Mmmm...You little tease. I'll remember that, later. For right now you should probably go wait with your sisters. I will be down as soon as I can." Emmett's eyes sparkled as he turned Rose away from him and slapped her lightly on her rear end.

She was still on cloud nine as we closed the door behind us walked away from their room.

EPOV

The mad scramble began the second the door closed. Jasper had already claimed the bathroom, and ran the water for his shower as he multitasked by simultaneously trying to get undressed and gather everything he needed to clean up. We ignored the loud crashes and swearing coming from the bathroom. Served him right!

Emmett and I kept running into each other in the rush to get ready in less than ten minutes. "Dammit, Edward. If I got even four hours of sleep last night, I'd be surprised. Since it's your fault that we're so unprepared for this, I'm claiming the other suite as mine to get ready this morning... I need a hot shower and a shave. I think I can do this in five minutes..." Emmett was talking to himself.

We were all instantly awake, now and in full panic mode. I wanted to lighten the mood. "Hey, guys?! Did you notice that they were wearing bathing suits under those little cover ups? Better throw on your trunks. We're probably going to hit a beach or something"

"Yes!" Emmett's frown faded and he punched the air in victory. "The girls in bathing suits... which means we will be on the water for at least part of the day. The girls totally seem like the adventurous types, too. I bet we're going parasailing!"

"Or maybe kayaking in the ocean. That'd be pretty exhilerating!" I offered, which seemed to spark Emmett's interest even further.

"Edward, do you have even the slightest inkling about what you supposedly agreed to do today?" Emmett asked light-heartedly. He sounded optimistic about the possibilities, instead of pissed off, so I decided it was ok to come clean with him.

"None, whatsoever, sorry!" I laughed, being completely honest with him for the first time in a while. "It'll be an adventure and a surprise for all of us"

"Jet skis... I bet it's jet skiing!!" Emmett was still talking in his excited way as he grabbed his swim trunks and ran out the door on his way to our extra suite. Turned out the second room might be handy after all.

--

Six minutes and forty five seconds later, we were ready to go. Or at least as ready as we were going to be. Some of us were better put together than others. I made the most out the two and a half minute shower I had managed to squeeze in. My hair was still damp, but would dry soon enough.

Jasper and Emmett were already the epitome of cool in their Vilebrequin swim trunks. Emmett had noticed George Clooney sporting a pair of Vilebrequin's in France a year ago and since then, it was all my brothers would wear at beaches and pools. And as elaborate and pricey as their swimwear was, the new Christian Dior Airspeed sunglasses they donned were even more extravagant.

In the few cases where people actually complained that we were over-dressed, Emmett was at the ready with his witty retort about how he was simply being "economy-friendly". Of course he usually didn't stop there. The next classic line out of his mouth was along the lines of how 'The Cullen men would never need a woman to properly dress them - only to UNdress them'.

Jasper's new multi-colored trunks had some sort of wild cabana scene on them which matched with the bright yellow shirt he wore. It probably would've matched with a dozen or so different colors.

Emmett's swim trunks were more toned down with a white background and dark green sea turtles. He wore no shirt, but made sure his sunglasses sat just-so on top of his head. He carried a rolled up white t-shirt under his arm, claiming he didn't have time to throw it on. Right! I wondered if Rose would buy that story.

I was still content to wear my Tommy Hilfiger Francis Floral Board shorts. They only cost around sixty dollars which was pocket change compared to Emmett and Jasper's three hundred dollar suits, but they were super comfortable and the black and white classic styles were always in fashion and looked good on me.

"Men, somewhere on this ship are three fine-ass women waiting to take us on wild, exciting adventures. Oh, why did we ever wait so long to take a cruise vacation?" Emmett asked jokingly, receiving a punch in the arm from Jasper who remembered all too well that he'd almost had to drag Emmett onto the ship in the first place.

"Well, we aren't the only guys on this ship that think our girlfriends are desirable, so let's go find them before someone else does, shall we?" Jasper added, causing a muscle to twitch in Emmett's face at the unpleasant thought.

--

It wasn't hard to spot our 'girlfriends' as Jasper had called them. I rather liked his terminology. Our three ladies definitely stood out in a crowd. I breathed a sigh of relief to see that they were very much alone at a corner table, waiting for us. They each had a small plate with remains of a picked-over breakfast in front of them and sipped a drink from one glass with three individual straws.

Emmett walked up to Rose with a purpose and kissed her, slowly. "Miss me?" He asked and licked his lips afterward. "Whatever you're drinking isn't half bad. But, isn't it a bit risky to have alcohol for breakfast? Especially right before we..." Emmett stopped and had a dumbfounded look on his face. He seemed unsure how to proceed. "...well, before we...do the thing... that we're going to do. Shit! What exactly are we doing again?" He caved, blowing my cover.

"What? Edward didn't tell you?" Bella asked, tongue in cheek. She semed to be on the verge of laughter. Her eyes danced in such a way that made me wish I had a reason to kiss her. I settled for pulling her in for a tight hug. That was when I remembered that I hadn't dried completely, yet.

"Oh! Edward, you're wet!" She giggled.

"Ah, sorry about that. Just got out of the shower." I apologized. She touched my chest and ran her fingers through my hair which sent such a buzz of electricity through me that I had to step back and control my urge, before I was too aroused to walk off the ship.

"No. It's ok. It doesn't bother me or anything. Actually, I like it. That wet look really works on you." She wasn't helping me calm down at all.

"Hi." Jasper pulled up a chair and sat beside Alice, taking her hand in his and speaking volumes with his eyes. The two of them didn't say much, and apparently didn't need to. Alice entwined her tiny fingers into Jasper's and rested her head against his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head, sweetly. They were both perfectly comfortable around each other. Somehow, I already knew there would be no keeping them from one another.

"We usually don't have alcoholic drinks with breakfast." Bella spoke, answering Emmett's earlier question. "But we had such a taste for a mai tai and we figured if we shared one, it wouldn't be such a big deal. As for it being dangerous, ...well...we like to live on the edge, don't we girls??"

Alice giggled again and nodded. The tremors of her small body rocking against Jasper was having such a profound effect on him, that his eyes almost rolled back into his head in pleasure.

Even Emmett had a smile on his face upon hearing Bella's words. No doubt, his mind swam with visions of a wet Rosalie plastered against him on a jet ski.

"Besides, you'll protect us if things get too rough for us, won't you?" Rose purred, and her eyes had the same laughter behind them as Bella's. I had the feeling I was mising something. Something big.

_A/N: Sorry about the cliffie but you guys know how I like to drag out the stories and build suspense!! Awww.. come on - deep down, you know you like it too, right?? Any guesses as to what the excursions might REALLY be?? _

_ Thanks for all the great reviews, messages, and creative ideas. ( I especially like the storm one..) I will try to incorporate them if I can without changing the story line too much.. :) Life has been nuts lately with me running around interviewing for different jobs. (One looks promising...) Hopefully I will be rewarded with a new job soon and can leave my highly stressful one that I am at right now. _

_To both of my Kim's - Thanks for keeping me smiling. And sorry I was such a wuss about bringing my cat to the vet, but you know what a big soft animal lover I am.. lol.._


	11. Excursions

_Disclaimer: It's been so long...Let me see if I remember how to do this... I'm not Stephenie Meyer. I wish I was.. yada yada... _

_ Hi, everyone. I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart for being away for so long. Things are still bad on the job front...On a different note, I am re-reading the Twilight books, trying to regain my "Essence of Edward" (yummm!!) because I just couldn't channel him for the longest time...and I've missed him. But hopefully I am getting back on track, now..._

Ch11 Excursions

**EmPov**

The line to get off the ship was ridiculously long. Apparently, although there were many different types of excurions, they were all booked at similar intervals. I guess I understood the necessity of it. It was supposed to hurry everything along. We would only be in Nassau for about eight hours. The time restraint meant people could only cram in two or three excursions at the most.

Rose leaned against me and craned her neck to see around the masses in front of us and down the long walkway that lead from the ship to the port. The fortunate people who'd been first in line and who'd made their way out before the crowds had formed, were already assembling in groups on the dock, according to little signs that tour guides held up. I tried to figure out which line we'd be joining, but Rose's attention strayed too much to settle on any one group.

Jasper and Alice spoke in hushed tones and laughed aloud every now and then. They looked genuinely thrilled to be standing in a line together. As if this was the most wonderful thing either of them had ever done in their lives. I snorted in their direction, drawing a nod from Rose.

Bella carried a small bag that no doubt held whatever essential beauty supply crap that women usually bring with them. Every few minutes she pulled out a tube of lip gloss and reapplied it like it was going out of style. It drove Edward crazy every time she puckered her lips. I tried hard not to laugh at his obvious weakness.

Five minutes stretched into ten and ten turned into twenty, but finally, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Apparently the holdup was all due to the crazed photographer at the bottom of the steps. Why did they need a picture for every little thing? I scowled at him, but Rose looped her arm through mine and smiled. "Come on. Our first picture together. Let's make it good!"

Bella and Alice overheard this and scrambled even more frantically through their little bags, reapplying whatever makeup they thought they needed. The whole thing was a comical commotion.

Rosalie subtly checked her reflection in a small mirror and after realizing she needed no touch-ups, stuffed it back into her bag and muttered "All set". A smile, a click, and it was over and we were free at last.

After the rest of our little group was done with pictures, Bella led the way down the pier. Her brisk pace had Alice nearly running to keep up.

"Here it is!" Bella exclaimed, happily, and slighlty out of breath as we reached the very last group assembled on the pier. The tour guide held up a sign that simply said "Exploration Extravaganza" in bold letters. Even though the title was a little vague, it was a good sign. After all, the 'extravaganza' meant something amazing was going to happen. Bella handed our six tickets to the tour guide and he smiled, welcoming us.

"Ok. Sorry about the delay, but we are still waiting for one more person." The tour guide told us as he looked around. Alice grumbled something along the lines of how it was a good thing we had hurried to get here so we could wait some more.

While we waited for our last straggler to show up, the other groups on the pier started leaving. We watched as the crowd from "Excellent Expeditions" filed past us, waving as they headed to their destination. There were a lot of younger children in that group. I frowned and became suddenly very suspicious of the 'excellence' implied. I noticed that there were very few children standing in our line. Thank God!! It was mostly young couples like us. Adventurous couples, waiting to brave their exploration of... what?

On the pier, only a few feet away, two obnoxious younger guys made cat calls as various girls walked past. A few girls smiled, happy for the attention, but most just gave him dirty looks and kept going. I cringed as the guys made plans to meet up again in a few hours, then parted ways with annoyingly loud goodbyes, and the darker haired one sauntered over to join our group.

"Ok, everybody. Yes - your prayers have been answered! I'm here now, so we can get this excursion underway. And, by the way, I want all of you lovely ladies to know that I'm a lifeguard too, so if anyone's life needs saving today, you know who your go-to guy is!" he winked, clicked his tongue, and lowered his Christian Dior sunglasses over his eyes, all the while grinning as if he were master of the universe. Complete lack of subtlety. Who the hell did this guy think he was? The little prick had expensive tastes, I'll give him that much.

He wasted no time checking out the women in our line, looking them up and down trying to figure out which one he would honor with his presence. It would only be a matter of time before he spotted our girls. As irritated as I was by his pretentious behavior, Edward seemed even more on edge. He cracked his knuckles in a menacing way as he glared at our late arrival. Something about this guy really seemed to rub Edward and Bella the wrong way. Surprisingly, the new guy ignored their frowning faces. In fact, he ignored all of us and quickly pushed his way toward the front of the line.

"Jackass!" Alice muttered as he walked past her with that stupid smile still plastered on his face. It was then that 'Mr.Smooth' noticed the vivacious red-head near the front and stopped to lean over and whisper something in her ear. She giggled in a very girly fashion, played with a long lock of her mane, and seemed instantly taken with him.

"Can you believe that guy? And that red head's obviously asking for trouble. Yeah, well. Better her than me." Rose said without much sympathy for the girl. She seemed to be able to read my mind.

"So obnoxious!! Could he be any more irritating?" Alice groaned loudly as Mr. Smooth applied a generous amount of baby oil to his protruding pecs and flat abs.

"Yes, he can. Trust me." Bella sneered as we piled into a small boat waiting at the end of the pier. A quick call to order and everyone's attention was again focused on the upcoming fun of the excursion.

And they loaded the animals two by two...

"Look at the water! I can't believe how clear it is. You can practically see all the way down to the ocean floor. And that color...incredible...!!." I realized I was rambling. I marveled a while longer at the brilliant blue green color of the ocean water out here as we took turns filing in on the excursion boat.

"You like the color?" Rose asked as her face suddenly lit up, filled with elation. She looked as pleased as a bird that'd just eaten a canary. It was then that her eyes locked onto mine and I realized why the color had such a profound affect on me. The waters of the Carribbean are the same shade as Rosalie's eyes.

"It's beautiful. I love it." I smiled, staring straight ahead at her. When I told her that her eyes were beautiful, I didn't just throw that out there, casually. I've seen a lot of blue eyes in my time. I dated tons of barbie doll girls with blond hair and blue eyes and no depth in their eyes. But theirs were always just plain blue. Vaguely pretty girls had ice-blue eyes like Jasper. But none had the unique aquamarine color that Rose had. She just might be the most strikingly gorgeous female on the planet. Of course, I might be a little biased.

With everyone securely seated on board, we sped off to our destination. It didn't take very long. About fifteen minutes into sailing, we stopped at a secluded area, out in the middle of nowhere and began unloading, much in the same fashion that we had all boarded. We waded out into the water. It was only waist deep. Well, barely chest deep for Alice. I didn't see any jet skis, boats, scuba gear...nothing fun. What the hell...?!

The tour guide cleared his throat to get everyone's attention once again. "Ok everyone, I am chumming the water, now, and our visitors are starting to arrive. Don't be afraid. Gather around and take some of this food if you'd like to feed them. As you can see, you don't need to be in very deep water to explore certain marine life. They're very gentle creatures as long as you are non-threatening. They'll swim right up to you if you just put your hand in the water and hold the food out to them. Keep your palm flat. Yep, like that." He went on, distributing food and demonstrating to a young girl how to hold her hand steady and feed the stingrays that were now swarming around us. Apparently they knew the routine pretty well. A few girls squeeled as the stingrays brushed by them or took the food out of their hands. I stood there, numb. This couldn't be it...could it?

"This is our excursion? For real?!... It's not exactly death defying is it?... Can't we wrestle them or something?" I asked Rose, looking around, wondering when we got to feed sharks or something more exciting. She grinned, slid her free hand down my back, letting it rest seductively close to my ass, and whispered to me in a giggling voice. "No. You don't get to wrestle the sea creatures, my big strong brute. Try to keep an open mind and have fun, anyway. Who knows. Maybe, if you're good, I'll let you wrestle me later."

What was she doing? Trying to drive me crazy?! Thank God for the group of stingrays that decided to swim in front of me at that exact moment. Perfect timing. I reached out to touch one and tried to quickly calm myself down before my cover swam away to the next outstretched hand.

Jasper and Edward both had similar looks of sappy confusion on their faces as Bella and Alice whispered encouraging words to them. More than a couple times, Edward had to steady Bella when the waves and current picked up and nearly knocked her over. She was the clumsiest girl I'd ever seen. Or maybe the craftiest. Either way, she had found a great excuse for getting Edward's hands on her. No complaints from him, either.

Alice might've been carried away, if it wasn't for the fact that once the tides became strong, Jasper had dumped all of his fish food and opted for carrying her around like the little rag doll she was. She squeeled as Jasper occasionally lowered her down and sprays of water splashed her face.

When all of the stingrays left to swarm around Jasper's now abundant food deposit, I pulled Rose in and held her tightly in front of me. I softly kissed the back of her neck and breathed in the sweet scent of her french perfume. It wasn't until I felt the contact with her smooth skin again, her hair cascading down my chest, that the delicious memories came back in full force and I realized I had been going through some sort of Rose withdrawal. I wanted more than anything to leave with her, right then. Get her back to the ship. Back to my room and ... but that would have to wait. As far as I could tell, everyone else seemed to be enjoying this maddening water foreplay.

The jackass lifeguard who I'd come to hear was named James, stopped blatantly making out with the redhead girl, apparently deciding he was getting bored with her. She'd been too easy to command attention from. There was no challenge with her and he was definitely the type of ego-maniac that felt the need to conquer everything. His gaze eventually strayed, looking for tougher prey. When he noticed Bella in Edward's arms, a look of unsurpassed rage came across his face. It somewhat distorted his pretty-boy features. He tried to downplay his frustrataion, unsuccesfully.

Rosalie caught the sudden change in his demeanor and laughed at the disappointment on James' face. Surprisingly, that didn't set him off in another fit of anger. Instead, his eyes lowered and he gave Rose a smoldering look that I knew all too well. He was trying to turn on the charm, once again. Even though it was apparent that Bella was his intended target and first choice, he wasn't above trying to get a little side action in the meantime.

"If I remember you, I'm sure you remember me. So...See anything you like?" he asked, his voice thick with want as he flexed his muscles. That was it! Someone needed to teach this jackass about boundaries and I decided I was just the man for the job. I set my jaw and started off in his direction, intent on knocking that stupid grin off his face, when Rose stopped me. She turned to face me and threw her arms around my neck as she purred seductively.

"I do now..." she said in that velvety smooth voice that melted me. Then she whispered in my ear "Don't waste your energy on that asshole. I want you in good shape for me." I don't know how she does it, but I've come to realize that Rose has the uncanny ability to both comfort me and excite me at the same time. I stopped seething and focused my efforts on slowly kissing Rose's perfectly pink lips. Although it wasn't my usual means of fighting back, I understood that it didn't always take brute strength to defeat your enemy.

**EPOV**

The sky extended in all directions above me and filled the horizon. The varying shades of blue sky and aquamarine ocean had a pleasnatly tranquil effect on me despite the increasing currents. I held Bella securely, keeping her from getting knocked off her feet. At least, that was the original gentlemanly intent. She felt too wonderful in my arms and I eventually found myself emboldened enough to take extra liberties with her. I touched her face every now and then, slowly tracing her lips. My arms still holding her now were more than the initial need to keep her safe. Every brush against her heightened my sense of awareness. I thought I was going to go out of my mind when she laid her head against my chest and sighed.

She looked up at me and blushed often, but always smiled at me in that inviting way, letting me know I wasn't overstepping my bounds. She was the perfect balance of sweet and sultry and her smile sent me on a rush, the likes of which I'd never known. It was like throwing gasoline onto a burning fire. The flames all but consumed me and I suddenly found myself wanting more of this mysterious angel. I closed my eyes and let my mind drift back to the passionate kiss we'd shared. I could almost taste the butterscotch on her lips. Strange... She hadn't blushed at all during that kiss. At first I thought it was because the kiss hadn't meant anything to her, but now that I analyzed it more, I wondered if I'd misjudged her. Maybe the real reason she hadn't blushed during that kiss was because she felt safe under the guise of necessity. We'd convinced ourselves that the kiss was warranted, that it was an absolute necessity to ward off the unwanted advances of the idiot who was swimming just twenty feet away from us right now. The fact that I'd gone along with her plan so willingly cancelled out any awkwardness on her part. Hmm...

"Penny for your thoughts..." Bella sang, stirring me back from my daydream. The trusting look on her face cut through all of my defenses and I answered honestly.

"I was thinking about ice cream, actually." I smiled, knowing it would only take her about a half second to make the connection.

She smiled and tightened her hold on me, catching on quickly, but it wasn't her voice that answered.

"That sounds really good, actually. I could go for some ice cream." Alice's little voice chimed, innocently. I didn't mind that she and Jasper had overheard and now decided to swim closer and join in the conversation. I kept my arms wrapped around Bella. Jasper has always had a way of making everyone around him comfortable. Alice was no different. Something about her sweet demeanor and pixie like features automatically put everyone at ease and made her completely trustworthy.

"I think tonight is the midnight chocolate buffet. I'm sure they'll have ice cream there." Jasper answered, eager to please her. "If not, I'm sure we can request it."

"I like strawberry ice cream sundaes best. Sometimes caramel..." She faded off there, and a strange feeling came over me. Why was she still on this subject? Jasper nodded in his happy-go-lucky way.

"Caramel's good." he agreed, stroking Alice's wet hair and avoiding eye contact with me.

"How about you, Edward? Do you have a favorite topping? Whipped cream? Hot fudge?" Her eyes danced with laughter as her lips curled up into a slight smile. "No?? Maybe butterscotch is more your flavor, then?"

Crap! I tried to keep my poker face set as I thought about how to best answer her. My resolve was fading. There was no point trying to deny it. Obviously by now everyone knew about our first kiss. I couldn't help but laugh. I liked Alice. Her somewhat subtle craftiness balanced out Jasper's straight-forward nature.

"Yeah, butterscotch is a new favorite. But you know what I've been wondering about?..."

"Hmm?" She shook her head, waiting for the answer. The set up was too easy.

"If strawberry sundaes are as tasty as..." I paused for effect. "...chocolate-covered strawberries." I looked at her dead-on.

"Touche." She said, humbly.

Jasper grinned, kissed Alice, and let her in on a secret. "If you ever find yourself team captain, remember to pick Edward first to be on your team. As you can see, he's very competitive."

"How interesting. I like a good challenge when I can find it." The lifeguard, James, scoffed, his voice dark. His intrusion into our group drew frowns from my brothers and Bella's sisters.

"Brenda was it? Or Brittany?" he incorrectly guessed, addressing Bella. "Well, I can be competitive, too. And I usually get what I want." Bella's fists crushed against her sides. She was becoming more angry by the second, and she wasn't the only one. I needed to get rid of this guy before he ruined the excursion for everyone. The vein running through Emmett's neck pulsed and throbbed and I had a feeling that this pretty-boy lifeguard was only a few minutes away from a major ass-kicking.

"You obviously have no powers of retention. Did you think she'd be turned on by that whole 'I'm-too-important-to-remember-your-name" routine?! You know what it reveals about you? That you're sloppy. And chances are if you're that bad at a simple aspect of remembering her name, you're probably lacking in...other areas as well." I challenged.

He smiled a condescending smile, put his arm around the red-haired girl and led her off away from the rest of the group without another word. His gaze kept returning to Bella, though, which became very annoying. Why couldn't this guy take a hint?

I was so absorbed in my feelings of irritation, that I never even heard the girl join our group. "Oh, hi. Fancy meeting you guys here." came a soft, meak voice. I recognized the teenage girl. She sat at our dinner table and had been quite mousy with her family around. But they were nowhere in sight now and she was more talkative.

"This is Miranda." I said, thankful that I'd liked her name enough to remember it, as I introduced her to the girls. "Miranda, this is Bella, Alice, and Rosalie. Miranda is one of our fellow guests at the dinner table." I said, answering the upraised eyebrows of the girls.

"Oh...Nice to meet you. So, Are you on this excursion by yourself?" Alice asked, ever friendly.

"Yeah. My mom and Grandma are on this cruise with me, but they don't like leaving the ship to see any of the islands, so it pretty much gives me free reign. I book as many excursions as I can. I just happened to luck out when I booked this one." She giggled abruptly and kept turning to stare in the James' direction.

"Um, I'm sorry, but - do you know that guy or something?" Rosalie asked, after we couldn't ignore her blatant staring anymore.

"I wish!" her answering smile was brilliant. "No. I only know him by name. That's James McHouston the third. He's powerful, rich, gorgeous..." She trailed off and frowned at Emmett's extremely blank look. "Hello? Heir to the McHouston hotel fortune? ring any bells?!"

I shook my head. I hadn't heard of him or his supposedly well-to-do family, either. "Well, let's just say he is a-ma-zing... " She was clearly obsessed with him, which worried me. This sweet, young girl was looking for love in all the wrong places. Of course I largely blamed the media. It told everyone what to think. What to want. Everyone either wanted to be the bad boy or be with him.

"Great. He's some sort of wealthy aristocrat. Probably has unlimited access to whatever resources he wants... and now he's pissed off and has a personal vendetta. You're fascinating, but unfortunately, I think you may have just opened up a can of worms, Edward." Bella grimaced.

_A/N: Oh yes.. Edward did indeed open a can of worms...but he's Edward.. and no one can upstage him. :)_

_BTW - Thanks to all of my readers and friends who have stuck by me and given me words of encouragement as I struggle through. I was drowning in a pool of despair and it took a special message from a dear friend to finally wake me up. I am still working part time, still looking for another job, and still going through several vet procedures with my cat... but it is getting better. _

_ To all those new readers that I noticed popping up lately - Hi! Nice to meet you. Sorry it took me so long to get on the ball. I do answer my reviews, PM's and e-mails, so if I havent gotten to you yet, be patient- I will. I'm getting reaquainted and I look forward to talking to all of you. :)_

_Most importantly - Thank you to Twilight Laughter for waking me up ... this one's for you!_


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